Pokemon: Decolonized
by JasonSimWolf
Summary: In the far future, most of humanity has polluted and deserted Earth. Despite all the dangers, a strong-willed few stayed behind to make a final attempt to save the world. They succeeded and 200 years later their descendants continue the effort. Jaklo Wight, a mid-ranking ranger, experiences all the new hope and new threats as he deals with human limitations in a world of monsters.
1. Chap 1: Gr Jaklo Wight and The New World

PROJECT : T.O.A.S.T.E.R.

Decolonized

By:JasonWolf

"As flawed as humanity is I'm not going to let it go extinct to a toaster with a god complex."

"Would you forsake your child in the name of progress? Would you forget your mother for the sake of progress? Would you betray your friend for the sake of progress? Then how can we do this to the Pokemon who got us here? What gives us the right or the reason to destroy not only our mother earth and fail our Pokemon friends but deny our children the future they deserve? It must end here. We can't turn back the clock, but my friends we can make a new future, A future that saves Pokemon and ourselves. To do that we have to give up our petty ways and relearn the respect that fostered our growth. It will not be easy, and the costs are high. My generation has failed this earth, and so we leave it to the next. We go to where we can do no harm, an exile for our failures. You true children of earth who have proven your dedication to a new mission. To save what we lost. I know that together you and your Pokemon can save this world. Do not doubt, do not despair. With your Pokemon at your side, you can do anything. Arceus forgive us and be with you." – Arthur Neil, Farewell Address

* * *

Prologue

You'd think in a world full of monsters everyone would be afraid. That we'd cower and hide and run. Some do, but not everyone can stand idly by. There are few that stand up and face the dangers of the world head-on for the sake of those who can't. Many call us brave. I thought I was. Nothing could have possibly made me brave enough to handle the sight of my best friend lying in a pool of his own blood his left leg blown off, his right broken in three places, and too many other injuries to count. Terror filled my body and froze me solid. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I wanted to run away. I wanted to run to him, but I could only look upon the consequences of my failure as a friend and as a Ranger.

Mike and Alice, my friends and coworkers, and I had reported in for a normal call. Just another monster moving a bit too close to town for people to be comfortable. It was just a teddiursa, a little omnivore, though that usually meant its momma Ursaring wasn't far behind, so we went over without another thought. We would shoo it away, and if anything went wrong it didn't matter we were top of our rank. Our training taught us everything and prepared us for anything after all. That training manual always felt a bit thin in hindsight. When we arrived the ursaring was dead, mauled, and largely eaten while the teddiursa was nowhere to be seen. Not too far away standing in front of a trail of fallen trees was a dragon tall enough that it breached the canopy. It's brownish green scales let it blend into the expansive forest like a Growlithe in tall grass. It was almost like it had materialized right in front of us. Dragons were not meant to exist here. They were supposed to be extinct in this region, yet one was staring us down with blood dripping from its bladed maw. Yet another image that I've never been able to purge from my mind.

I'm not sure if it was valor or foolishness that made us attempt to fight the beast. As Rangers, we had tamed and trained teams of these Pokemon to help us. Altogether there were over twenty-five of us: Three trained Rangers, and twenty-four Pokemon. The dragon tore us apart in minutes. Everyone was battered, bruised, slashed, and bloodied. We sent Alice to go get the other Rangers while we tried to stall the dragon just a little longer. I could barely stay standing at that point, so Mike charged in. He and his partner Pokemon Aeron, an Aerodactyl, were a force to be reckoned with. They gave the dragon a real fight. Riding on Aeron's back as he flew around the beast MIke was able to precisely guide the Aerodactyls attacks letting them outsmart the dragon. Even then it couldn't last forever. They had to execute everything perfectly. The dragon only needed one hit. The dragon Pokemon roared and a purple energy began to build in its mouth. A huge laser fired off hitting Mike and Aeron. While Aeron had his natural protection as a Pokemon, Mike was a human and the attack disintegrated his left leg. The two fell from the sky with a horrible thud and crack.

We only survived because of the Ranger head, and pretty much every other Ranger in the town showed up. They were able to drive the dragon off, but for us, it was too late. Everyone would live, but I almost wished I hadn't. Most of my injuries were bad. Broken bones and a nasty gash in my shoulder would have me laid up for weeks, but Mike was clinging to the very edge of life. He was in ICU for over a week, the sheer trauma on his body and blood loss had him fighting for his life. People were certain he'd die, and in a sense he did. He pulled through the injuries, but he never recovered. Mike wasn't the same person in the slightest. I saw a great leader, a courageous fighter, and my best friend become a cold distant hermit. Meanwhile, I was suddenly given his responsibilities whether I wanted them or not. I had become the best Ranger in town short of the leaders, and yet I didn't really change at all save for one thing. I was terrified of that dragon and the calamities it wrought.

* * *

 **Chap: 1 GR. Jaklo Wight and The New World**

A low, but booming roar echoed through the woods. Everything shook, the trees shuddered, the ground became unsteady, and my very bones felt like rubber. I looked around trying to find the source because I knew that roar as much as my own voice. The dragon had come back. The forest was misty and dark. If I was lucky it wouldn't be able to see me. I couldn't see it either though. I could try to run, but a Ranger shouldn't run. It was my job to fight, but what chance did I have? The roar sounded again, but it was much closer. I had no time to think. I sprinted as fast as I could in a blind panic. All I knew was fear. With luck, the fog would cover me let me get far away. I wasn't like Mike. I wasn't strong enough.

Ahead there was a tall evergreen with a hole near the bottom probably a burrow of some sort. I squirmed in desperate to hide. It was a tight fit but manageable. I peered out at the forest floor waiting and watching. The roar echoed out again and again. Every time I heard it I sunk back deeper into the burrow. Soon I heard its footsteps. Each one rocked me to the core. The shaking was so intense it actually shook up my breathing and made me cough trying to get air back in. The steps sped up until the sound was right on top of me. With one more thunderous step, the dragon's foot landed right in front of my face. I wriggled and struggled to try and go back further. Something underneath me came loose and I started falling down into darkness.

Everything was inky blackness now. No matter what direction I looked, even down at myself, I saw nothing. A single word began to echo in my head: Coward. It repeated over and over again nagging at me. Voices of my friends, my family, of everyone began to jeer and shout at me.

"Coward!"

"Fraud!"

"Strip his rank!"

"Exile him!"

"Shut up! I'm not a coward!" I shouted back.

"Then why did you abandon me?" It was a single voice now.

I looked up to see Mike crippled and bloody on the ground staring at me.

"Mike! I didn't leave. I just… I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough!"

"You're just a pathetic coward. You did this to me. It's your fault!" He shouted.

The voices came again screaming and roaring. I collapsed curling into a ball.

"No. I didn't. I'm not." I muttered trying to endure the onslaught.

"Noc tou Noc!" I heard a new singular voice cutting through the jeers.

Looking up I saw my Noctowl, Lucas. Why was he here now?

"Noc tou woo." He cooed putting a wing over me.

His eyes glowed purple and the darkness began to fade to light.

I opened my eyes seeing Lucas standing next to me with his eyes still glowing. It was another nightmare. Noctowl's had psychic powers letting them quell or cause nightmares and dreams, so Lucas had been helping me deal with them. I patted Lucas on the head giving a weak smile. He nuzzled up against my hand happy to see me up and moving again.

"Thanks, buddy. Good thing you're used to taking night shifts. You should get some rest now. I'll be fine." I told him followed by a long yawn and sigh.

He tilted his head not so certain.

"Don't worry. First one in what? four weeks? I call a month between nightmares a success at this point. Now I gotta go to work." I said not letting him stop me now.

Lucas had to oblige and let me get up. I opened up a small dresser and got one of my uniforms out before climbing down from the sleeping loft. Going underneath I entered the cramped bathroom. Minimalism wasn't just an idea here in many ways it was life and others the law. I took care of my business in there very quickly and got dressed. The attire was simple, but we needed it to be wearable more than elegant. For guys, it consisted of cargo pants, a two-tone shirt that matched the town's colors, forest green and slate gray, and some heavy duty boots. I always wore a cap as well, but that wasn't required. Girls had basically the same uniform, but their shirts are cut longer to give a kind of fake skirt look. The original Rangers just used the old Avance Ranger uniforms from back before, so we modeled the modern design to hint to those, but be better suited for this world.

My thoughts went to the first time I put my uniform on. I was so excited. I had made something of myself. I went from Jaklo Wight fruit picker to Ranger Jaklo Wight. I was living the dream then. Now putting it on felt like painting a target on my back. I always knew the risks, but until you actually are at risk you won't fully grasp it. Even then I kept moving. I ate breakfast before going to round up my Pokemon.

I went to the barn built behind my house. It was a rugged wooden structure, like everything else in the town. I pulled open the door and was hit by the smell that came with keeping Pokemon. I coughed and mocked a vomit.

"Damn it guys. How many times have I told you to keep the door open some." I groaned backing up a step.

There was a general tone of grunts and groans dismissing my comment. Most of my team was off at the ranch, an open region set aside to let Ranger Pokemon live in when we didn't need them. For now Tex, my Lairon, Rath, my houndour, and Yanso, my Grovyle and partner were here with me. Rath was curled up in the corner by a little wood burning stove that we used during the winter. He was looking up to me only vaguely interested. He was far more of a night Pokemon, so he was probably just getting to sleep now. He would get up when I needed him, but more than likely he'd be fine to rest now. He had been working days for the last week, so he deserved some time off. I'd switch him with Plasum, my Haunter. Tex was the next to acknowledge me. He lumbered out of a little pen and sat down in front of me with a thud.

"Larr." He grunted sitting down at my feet.

"Yanso? You up there?" I called looking up to the loft.

After a moment I climbed up there, but he wasn't around. I wasn't sure where he could be now. He had been rather strange since the dragon as well. He was off in multiple ways. Most notably he kept running off and showing back up with some sort of injury. They weren't even normal or logical ones. Burns inside his mouth, signs of electric shock, and one time he even had four symmetrical puncture wound on his forearms that he refused to explain. I tried everything I could to make him stop, but he wouldn't do that, much less tell me what was happening. When he was here he was pretty normal, but it didn't quell my worries.

I stepped outside and blew a piercing whistle. A minute or two passed and Yanso came walking slowly out of the forest. He was nursing his left arm, but I couldn't see any external injury when he got closer.

"If you didn't keep coming back hurt. I wouldn't care what you do when we aren't working." I told him looking over the arm.

He winced when I touched his arm trying to get a better look. I pulled a medical spray, that we called potions as slang, off my belt and used it on a large bruise that had formed. I grilled Yanso over what he was doing, but he just looked away and grumbled.

"I don't know what you are doing or where you are going. How are we supposed to be partners when you won't talk to me?"

He dismissed my concern waving a hand and let out a dry chuckle. My best hope was that he didn't want me to worry, but how couldn't I? I was starting to understand how my parents must have felt when I started Ranger training. I didn't see my Pokemon as children, but I had a responsibility to lead them. For now, I had to simply bare that. Short of keeping Yanso locked up there was nothing I could do. I made him get into his pokeball at the very least so he could rest. He pressed his hand on the front of the sphere pushing in a tiny button. It sprung open and a red light shot out. Yanso vanished in the light as it was pulled back into tiny red gems scattered around the inside of the ball. I clipped the ball onto my belt before getting Tex stowed away as well. I would get other Pokemon for my team after the morning meeting. Equipped but not ready I headed off.

The walk to HQ took me from the edge of town, where my cabin acted as a sort of outpost, to the very center. The HQ stood above all the other buildings. It's three-story metal and glass facade visible from most places. While it was nothing compared to the buildings of the old world it was a monolith to people today. It was part military base, part bunker, part town hall, and part hospital. It was the center of life really. Around that were the artisans and merchants. We weren't a capitalistic people, but everyone deserved to earn wages and to spend those wages on whatever they wanted. It was a down to earth highly personal kind of commerce. Before I even got there I had a few acres of farmland to go past. The entire outer ring of Letchworth was farmland, ranches, and orchards. I had grown up on an apple orchard, so the sights of freshly tilled soil and budding trees was always a nice sight in the morning. I spotted an old family friend struggling to pick up a big basket of pink apricorns and decided I had enough time to stop by for a chat.

"Mr. Faln, didn't say you're not to carry things heavy things anymore?" I said while lifting the basket.

"Just because I'm not supposed to doesn't mean I have a choice in the matter. We're always short handed for the spring harvests. They always steal my boys to plant the fields." He grumbled.

"Well, they usually get that taken care of pretty fast. I can check in for you if you'd like. See if they can spare a few more for your orchard."

"That'd be a real help."

I brought the basket back to the drop-off point. I was about to give Mr. Faln another warning, but I was cut off by an extremely loud whistle.

"So much for getting to the office early." I grumbled, "Mr. Faln if you could please head inside until the all clear."

"Go get'em boyo." He told me before heading into the storehouse.

I ran off towards the sound's source. There were a lot of workers heading the exact opposite direction. The whistle kept sounding in rapid bursts. I came across the reason for the alert. A beedrill was chowing down on some baskets of apricorns.

"Tex, up and at'em," I called summoning my Lairon.

The beedrill looked up from its feast and threatened me jabbing its needles in my direction.

"Move on, or we'll force you out," I demanded.

The beedrill chattered its mandibles refusing. It took flight and lunged at Tex and I. Tex slammed his front feet into the ground sending up a spray of stones that pelted the beedrill. It turned stinger and flew off. Tex and I made a quick sweep for any signs of a nest or young. It seemed to have just come for a bite. It'd stay away for now. No meal is worth getting hurt for. Even if it did there'd be more Rangers on patrol to handle future problems.

I eventually arrived at the Ranger HQ in the center of town and reported for the briefing. I was a sort of middle rank as far as Rangers went. There were two standard ranks lower, bronze and silver, and two higher platinum and diamond. The only other ranks were for special heroes who served with exemplary courage and valor. As a gold Ranger, I received very different work from the silver and below. They would usually get patrol routes for a month or two occasionally groups would go on little quick recons and pick ups. Silvers sometimes were support for Golds, but normally just had regular duties.

I headed up to the top floor where Tyler, the Ranger Head, had his office and the meeting room. I was the first person to make it there that morning. I sat down at the massive meeting table. It had been cut from a massive tree that was felled at the founding of Letchworth. Half of the log had been made into the Ranger Head's desk while the other was here used at the conference table. The semicircle let the Ranger head be equidistant from all of us, but still be clearly in charge of the situation. There were five chairs around the curved side one for all of the gold and higher Rangers.

Maria was the next to arrive her heels clicking distinctly on the wooden floors. While I wore a field uniform on most occasions she always was in her official regalia, a nearly knee-length white dress with green and gray details, short sleeves, and a high collar. Rangers after all needed to show their dignity and power. Usually, the full regalia was worn for conferences between Ranger groups from different settlements and two holidays: memorial and founders' day. When she came in I nodded to her in acknowledgment, but stayed quiet. We were more business associates than friends. There was certainly no animosity, but we simply didn't exist in the same circles. She sat down on the opposite side of the large oak table and took off her glasses before opening up a Pokedex.

Everything was quiet short of the little clicks of keys on devices until Paul arrived. He was the second in command for all intents and purposes. He was the scary uncle to all the Rangers. While he wasn't so bad if you stayed on his good side, his appearance still scared bronze and oak Rangers stiff. He was a tall built man who embraced the wilderness all around us. His entire left arm had been replaced with a prosthetic that only added to the intimidation factor. Originally we hoped that Mike could use one, but his left leg's nerves had been too badly damaged. Paul was accompanied by his partner Pokemon Syan, a crobat. The Pokemon roosted on a cabinet in the corner wrapping its wings around itself. Paul seemed ill-prepared to pass the time and instead turned to us,

"So either of you get anything interesting done last week?" He asked having just returned from a short trip up to Rushing, a small village that fell under our jurisdiction.

"No, not really. I've been up to the usual things." I sighed," Nothing special."

"Well, I had a lovely week. Finally got Tyler to review the equipment ledgers, and I had a wonderful dinner with Simon." Maria joined in very pleased with herself.

Paul just looked at her unamused. While Maria and I didn't travel in the same circles Paul and Maria traveled in nearly opposite circles. Paul was a rugged man of the land. He was a fifth-generation Ranger his direct ancestry going back to one of the founders. Sure Maria was related to Tyler, but he was an outlier and married in. Most of Maria's family were shopkeepers and craftsmen. It was interesting to see someone like her get this far. She didn't have the same mentality as a lot of us. Typically Rangers were nature people who grew up on the edges. The artisan families rarely had children who joined the Rangers. There are debates on why: maybe it's since artisan families tend to have fewer kids and need someone to carry on the family shop? It could be the inner city mentality that they aren't as close to the wilds. No one can say for sure.

Maria simply rolled her eyes back to her Pokedex. I sipped my canteen and continued working. Alice and Tyler arrived at the same time. Both were discussing something before entering the room, but I couldn't make much out besides their voices. They entered the room and sat down one after the other. The table being a half circle put all of us lower-ranking Rangers around the RH. Tyler was one of the better RH's we had in Letchworth. He was old enough to be wise but young enough to still do work. He wouldn't be young forever. Gray was creeping into his hair and he'd missed a few days from issues. Tyler was the kind of guy who'd only miss something if he literally couldn't move. I always wondered in the back of my mind who could replace him.

For now I had other things to think about. Alice sat down next to me on the end of the table. We smiled at each other knowing we'd talk after the meeting about "us stuff". We had a lot of responsibility that came before ourselves.

"Good morning everyone." Tyler began placing a tablet on the table, "It's good to see you home safely Paul. Everything has gone well in Rushing I assume?"

"About as well as they could. Their demolition plans for the ruins seem sound. They don't think they'll need any assistance if urban Pokemon become provoked. The area is very fringe and they haven't seen many Pokemon there at all much less a threat." Paul reported sounding far too official for how he looked.

"Very good. Been a long while since anyone has done some reclamation. Let's not forget that those urban areas are also valuable habitats for Pokemon. Our world needs a certain balance of the natural and urban areas." Tyler noted reminding us even though we all knew that very well, "Anyway on to current matters."

"All minor assignments have been handed out already. Maurice took the one I posted this morning." Maria said.

"Makes getting to our work much easier. Alice, Jaklo, I'm sending you to the north end. We need to check on the status of the Museum and Inn before we send people back up there. Normally I'd have lower Rangers do this, but something in their report concerned me about that snowstorm."

During the winter a storm hit the area that forced us to evacuate people from the north end of the park where some historic sites were preserved. I had seen the reports myself, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I wasn't going to turn down a possibly easy mission though. A day off never hurt. Even if it wasn't it'd just be a normal day. I had visited the historic sites a couple times. Funny to think these sites lasted this long yet the cities were collapsing. We tended to them carefully wanting to preserve the important history of humanity.

"Alright. I'll prep some gear for the area." I said thinking of a couple things I'd like to have ready for this trip.

"I'll go pick up Agro from the Ranch. I met him down there at the falls. He'll notice anything odd." Alice said having formulated a plan.

Tyler sent us on our way. I hurried to the armory to grab a pair of thermal goggles. I had become quite keen on them for tracking sneaky prey. Alice and I met up outside and began to discuss ongoings while we walked.

"So I was gonna pick up stuff to make meatloaf tonight. You wanna come over?" I asked casually.

"As romantic as meatloaf sounds I don't know if I can tonight. I have so much paperwork to get through. Why is it that we have to make a thirty-page file for every Pokemon we catch?" She sighed looking at me like I had some better answer.

"I dunno. Gotta keep track of the Pokemon we have somehow." I shrugged taking her hand and squeezing it.

"Isn't that Slate's job? Why can't I just make one of his techs do it?" She replied still upset.

"How about this you bring the paperwork tonight and we'll get it done together?" I suggested having submitted my fair share of capture reports.

"How am I supposed to get work done with you around? You are extremely distracting." She said slyly, "And I do mean that in a good way."

"Work first fun later. We'll breeze through it." I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but smile a little, "Besides we got easy work today. We'll be home by lunch."

Before we could get to the ranch we had to go past Prof. Slate's lab. The man was an expert on Pokemon adaptation and the father of Michael Slate jr. I had gotten to know him fairly well from when I was just a kid going over to the lab to hang out with Mike. It was a big part of how I got to know about Pokemon and even how I really determined the Rangers were the place for me.

The now gray-haired professor was in front of the lab talking to one of his techs. Slate was accompanied by his partner Pokemon a bronze Klinklang. The mechanism Pokemon was certainly a strange one and apparently inspired the creation of gears way back when. The professor's was currently changing out gears keeping its own weird rhythm with the many different small cogs. As it turns out the only real Pokemon was the main gear with a face. It created the other gears to store energy which it constantly has to expel. Since it has more gears to channel it into a klinklang is much stronger than its previous evolutions. I decided there couldn't be much harm in stopping by.

"Ah, Mr. Wight. Good to see you again." Prof. Slate nodded to me when he saw me approach.

"You've known me since I had baby teeth. You can just call me Jaklo."

"You spent years hoping I'd treat you like an adult, and now you ask I speak to you as a child."

"You know Mike gets his stubbornness from you?" I retorted, "Where is he anyway? I haven't seen him since winter."

The professor sighed his eyes dark behind his glasses.

"You know how he's been. He tends to stay in the garden with Aeron. I've tried every day to get out and moving again, but that's the farthest I can ever get him."

I gritted my teeth the thought of my friend giving up on life was painful to me. He was the best of us, and now he wasn't even a Ranger.

"Alice. I'll meet you at the ranch. Goodbye professor." I told them as I dashed off towards the back of the Pokemon lab where the professor had kept a garden

He used it to study Pokemon in a slightly more natural but controlled environment. I saw Mike in his wheelchair staring into a still pond his Aerodactyl partner beside him. I walked up to him, but he didn't react.

"Been a pretty nice spring so far this year. Good time to start getting out there again." I said stepping up beside him.

"Letchworth has always been a beautiful place. Farmland reclaimed by a man with a vision of nature for the people." Mike said, "It's the Ranger's dream I suppose."

He closed his eyes taking a deep breath.

"You know even though you aren't active duty anymore we could use you at the meetings. Your insight meant a lot. I'm sure Maria could always use your know how to manage the bronzes and silvers."

"Maybe. I have… things to do." Mike said his voice telling of how his spirit was broken more than his body.

Aeron looked to his partner and nuzzled against his shoulder. Mike went back to looking into the pond. I took this as my cue to leave. I had tried to force the subject once before, and it only made things worse. I took everything a step at a time. I had seen some good and some bad as time went on, but Mike was still nothing like he used to be.

I hurried to the north side of town and up to the ranch's farmhouse. Alice was there using the GPS console to find out where her Pokemon were on the ranch.

"Who are you picking up?" I asked so I could plan better.

"Aggy and Kona." She told me not taking her eyes off the screen.

"I was planning on bringing Plasum. Maybe I'd bring Baroness, but you already have plenty of water types. Is three Pokemon enough for now?"

"Jaklo we're not going to the ruins you don't need to worry." Alice turned from the computer to give me a look.

"Fine, fine, I'll just get Plasum."

I put in his ID and found out where on the ranch he was. It began to zoom in on his location. East side, south-east side, hundred yards, twenty yards, one yard. The GPS zoomed right in on the farmhouse.

"What the?" I turned towards Alice but instead came face to face with a horrific mug dripping purple ooze.

"Fuckin hell!" I shouted jumping backward.

The face transformed into Plasum who laughed hysterically.

"Yeah yuck it up. You're only adding to the stereotype buddy." I grumbled grabbing his pokeball and stowing him away.

We double checked everything and headed off towards the main road so we could get up to The North end where two major sites and a minor one remained from the old world: The Glen Iris Inn and the Letchworth Museum and then the Mary Jemison memorial. The Inn was originally the country estate of William Pryor Letchworth. Letchworth saw the beauty in the land and with his fortune began to buy it back so that it couldn't be destroyed and that which was already damaged he began to replant. A fitting model for us. The museum had artifacts from the area, and Mary Jemison was an interesting mystery. Much had been lost about her, but a statue remained over her grave. We had no intention of disturbing it.

I sent out Plasum when we arrived at the north end. The Inn was only twenty feet from the gorge and had picturess views, but there had been some buildings further up when the area was a park. We had kept one of them as a little storage shelter for the bigger equipment up here. A fair few devices were thrown around from the storm. I collected a couple of antennae and a weird dish and dragged them up onto the inn porch. I'd leave it to the forge workers to fix it. I knew a thing or two about tech, but not enough to mean anything. Plasum was laughing as he floated back and forth between the white columns on the porch.

"Tahaunt!" He cackled.

"At least one of my Pokemon is still has a positive outlook." I deadpanned.

"Heh heh hauntaa." He smiled opening his void of a mouth wide.

"Alright alright. Come on we got work to do." I told him.

"Speaking of that," Alice said grabbing a blue and white pokeball off her belt.

She held it out and a ray fired off over the gorge. A massive form was created in the red light, but slowly it solidified into the giant water type Gyarados. The water serpent splashed down and looked up at us from the river rapids.

"Alright Agro. You get recon duty. I need you to search up and down the river for anyone causing trouble. Just roar if you need us." Alice said.

"I do not understand how that used to be your little Magikarp," I muttered looking at the massive beast.

"And despite that, he will always be my little Aggy." Alice smiled.

"Well let little Aggy work. You should go up to the storage sheds when Agro is up on the falls." I suggested.

"Okay. Plasum don't let him do something stupid without me." Alice said giving me a kiss on the cheek before heading up the way to the storage buildings.

Plasum morphed his face into big lips and made kissing noises before breaking into laughter.

"I let you out of that pokeball, and I can cram you back into it," I warned him grabbing it from my belt.

He shrunk back holding his hands up.

"Ok then let's get to work," I told him as we headed into the Inn.

Plasum went ahead of me and began to lurk through the Inn phasing through walls without a care. He loved the ancient building soaking all of its history. Before I headed inside I pulled on the pair of thermal goggles. On thermal, he left a distinctly cold trail, but it faded fast. I did a full sweep of the inn taking mental notes of anything out of place, but nothing stood out much. When I got outside Alice was just coming back.

"Not a thing. We should do the museum next." I said simply.

We headed over climbing a short staircase up to the museum's large front door. Just before Alice grabbed the doorknob I pulled her back and put my hand over her mouth before putting a finger in front of mine. I pointed to my goggles and then whispered.

"That doorknob is ice cold same for the windows. There's freezing air slipping out from under the door. Something is inside."

Alice nodded and we backed up to search the perimeter. We split up and moved around the old stone building to inspect it. There were no signs of forced entry or damage really. The building had an archive cellar with a back door. When I saw there was no sign of cold there we headed in. The archives seemed just fine, but the cold was seeping under the door to the main floor. I had plasum open the door since his ethereal body wasn't bothered by the cold too much. Inside the building was a strange fog and it felt like the depths of winter. I crept in my vision all shades of blue from the thermal goggles. Alice kept close as we went down the central hall. The building had three rooms. Two smaller rooms were on the right one holding a library and the other natural exhibits, fossils and such; meanwhile on the left was one large room about the human history of the area. On my thermal view, the cold was stronger on the left side around the doorway into the large room. I peeked around the door jam and scanned the room. I froze where I was when I spotted a figure in the room colder than the air around us. It just floated there a slightly darker silhouette in the fog. I conveyed everything to Alice and we formed a basic plan. I sent plasum in to engage first.

"Plasum, sucker punch!" I ordered making the first move

The figure shifted, but Plasum was there in the blink of an eye his ethereal fist solidifying to uppercut the figure. The Pokemon reeled holding its chin. The fog faded somewhat now only rolling along the floor rather than filling the space. The figure was revealed to be an effeminate blue and white Pokemon with bright yellow eyes and a red sash around its waist. It screeched angrily and frost began to form on every surface.

"Plasum keep on the offensive.!" I ordered not wanting to give the Pokemon any time.

My Haunter morphed into a giant terrifying face that startled the Pokemon. Plasum began to slash away with his clawed hands. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard as Plasum scratched at the Pokemon's frozen outer shell. Alice ordered Sholt to join in. The Wartortle dashed towards the ghost head lowered. He leaped just before reaching it and smashed the icy Pokemon into the wall breaking the plaster and denting the stone wall.

"We need to get it outside," I told Alice knowing that a battle in here could spell disaster for the ancient building.

"Way ahead of you." She replied pulling out a pokeball.

She threw it like a pitcher and beamed the ice Pokemon in the head. The ball opened and pulled the Pokemon in.

"Plasum phase it out!" I ordered realizing where this was going.

He grabbed the pokeball and concentrated gripping it tightly as he pulled the solid object with him through the wall to the outside. Alice, Sholt, and I sprinted through the main entrance to get outside. The ice Pokemon had already broken free and was blasting Plasum with a gale force wind filled with sleet. He was pinned down against the museum holding up his hands to block as much of the barrage as he could. Sholt ran back into the fight unleashing a powerful blast of water from his mouth. The ice Pokemon looked like it had been hit with a boulder when it was knocked sideways from the hit. Plasum lunged at the ice Pokemon grabbing on tight with one hand and pummeling it with the other. He hissed with anger smashing his fist into the Pokemon's chest over and over. It struggled to break free, but its physical strength was puny compared to its elemental power. Plasum wound up one more haymaker, his fist becoming cloaked in fire, and punched his foe right in the face knocking it out cold.

The Pokemon wasn't too hurt, only little scratches and bruises possibly a black eye from that last hit. Pokemon were extremely durable. They'd usually use up all of their energy and be unable to fight before they'd start being badly harmed. I took the opportunity and ran up pressing a specialty temporary pokeball against the Pokemon. The ball would only hold the Pokemon briefly so that we could move her out to somewhere safe. There was no way to force a Pokemon to stay in a pokeball, but these were specially made to hold on much longer than a normal one. They were only ever used for the greater good though. The Pokemon was sucked up into it and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright. Let's relocate her and report in." I said, "I need a hot shower."

"Make that we." Alice joked relieved.

We released the Pokemon up near the urban edge since it seemed keen on buildings for habitation. I pulled out my radio and honed in on the town's signal. I went over what happened and told them that it was safe for the team to return. Alice and I decided we'd wait for the team to arrive and see if they needed any help setting things back up. Seeing as we had the space we sent out all of our Pokemon for some fresh air. Alice and I sat next to each other on the open lawn behind the Inn. Our Pokemon did as each pleased either resting themselves or socializing. Pokemon were just like people in that way. They could be social and think if they wanted to. They simply showed it more around people. Closing my eyes and pulling my cap down before laying back head on my arms I apparently dozed off because next thing I knew Alice has poking my ribs with the tip of her boot. I shook away the daze and saw her and the preservation team.

"What? I work hard. I'm entitled to naps." I grumbled not wanting to admit how restless my night had been.

I got to my feet before inquiring about what needed to be done to get the team moved in actually wasn't a lot to do. The weather monitoring equipment had survived the snow and would at most need some recalibration. Everything else was standard maintenance. Alice and I left them to it and headed back to town.

We walked along with our main partner Pokemon. Yanso was still young and just a foot shorter than me. Fully grown he'd be much taller than me. Sholt was only about hip height on Alice. He'd get bigger when he evolved and then grow up to be taller than Yanso. Trainers and their Pokemon were always a motley crew. Hundreds of species each with different traits on its own. My team was of all sorts. Reptiles and mammals, tall and short, strong and swift. Each played a special role. Between Alice and I we had gathered around sixteen Pokemon. Even still the bond one makes with their first Pokemon partner is stronger than anything. Nothing can change that. Not the passing of time or the worst of fates. At least that's what I hoped. Yanso had been strange as of late. He felt distant, but he never seemed any less loyal. I wasn't going to let that ruin us though. I could never give up on my friends even if that hurt me more.

It was early afternoon when we got back. Alice went back to her house leaving me to walk home with Yanso. As soon as I was in the door I started pulling off my uniform. I threw it in a pile and jumped in the shower. The water was almost painfully hot, but it felt fantastic after that bitter cold. Up here we were used to cruel winters and mountains of snow, but that didn't mean I liked it. My bathroom turned into a sauna after only a minute or so. I slumped against the wall letting the water pour down on me. I shut my eyes trying to sort through my thoughts.

Overall it hadn't been so bad. That Pokemon had put up a fight, but that was actually small fry to me now. My team and I had come really far. I had raised most of them from their littlest forms, but even my newer ones were growing stronger. Things over the last few months had been going surprisingly well. My life seemed to be coming together again. I was still scared, but fear and hope aren't mutually exclusive. Mike had even been getting out a little bit, mostly just to the ranch to visit his Pokemon, but that was huge considering how many weeks he spent never leaving the lab.

I was just getting out of the shower when I heard someone knocking. Knock, knock, knock...knock...knock. That was definitely Alice. I grabbed my boxers and put on some jeans before letting her in. She had already washed up and changed into a turquoise sweater, beige pants, and a pair of nice leather boots.

"I thought you were coming for dinner," I said kind of confused why she was here so early.

"I was coming because of you. Dinner is just a side benefit." Alice laughed leaning up against my bare chest.

I hugged her holding her close. We looked into each other's eyes before sharing a slow kiss. I was damn near certain she was the one. No one made me feel the way I did when I was with her.

"I suppose it's a good enough reason." I chuckled.

The evening was pretty lazy from that point on. We just talked and existed. Right now it was all I needed. No matter how bad or many my worries Alice could take them all away. When it was us together that's all there was.


	2. Chap 2: The Old World

"I promised to never harm the world again. The earth has not given us the same courtesy." - Isaac Wight after the Great Letchworth Flood.

It was just a couple days later. Spring was fully here and all the town was active. With this came increased needs. There was a lot we could get from nature alone, but sometimes we needed a little human ingenuity. In that case, we looked to the ruins of our past. Everything was salvageable. It just took actual effort to recycle it something not reasonable in the commercially driven society before us. The forge could take anything and reuse it. It was a Ranger's job to get them those resources.

The morning was perfectly normal to me. I headed to work ready for another day, but not ready for who greeted me. When I arrived at the meeting room I was shocked to see Isaac, an ex-Ranger and good friend, there with his Electabuzz, Turbine. We shook hands and hugged like old friends do.

"Been a long while. Haven't gotten to see you since February!" I exclaimed, "Man, how have you been? Turbine looks tough as always."

The Electabuzz beat his chest while smiling at the compliment.

"Been doing pretty decent. Forge keeps me busy, and I'm happy with the work." He replied thinking about the last three months.

"So why are you here?" I asked.

"We need something a little special for a project at the forge, and you'll be coming with me to go get it," Isaac said a big grin on his face.

"Just remember I outrank you know, so you're coming with me." I joked.

"Yeah yeah. I just wasn't cut out for all the political drama. I like to solve my problem with different methods." Isaac retorted.

"Uh huh so is that why when you get ticked you smash whatever you are working on?." said Alice who had just arrived in full formal uniform to boot.

I let out a whistle shocked to see her in any other than field gear or at least jeans. She rolled her eyes and stood next to me.

"Can you not make a big deal out of this? Tyler has me speaking with Rushing about hydrodynamics and water treatment. Literally, the last thing I want to do today." Alice explained leaning on me, "they won't even see my feet why do I have to wear heels today?"

"Because even two hundred years in the future professional attire still has to be uncomfortable. Have we not evolved? How can we save ourselves from the plight of heels and ties?" I joked with great ham as I played up the sorrow, "Besides you wear heels when we go out. Why are these evil?"

"There's a big difference between going to the lounge and spending all day at work." She shoved me gently and instead leaned on the wall.

My mind had already gone to my memories of some of the better nights at the lounge. Sure we were simpler more natural people, but we still liked alcohol and entertainment. The lounge was a kind of club bar thing for people to unwind and enjoy life at. Sometimes we'd get the whole gang together there, though Mike always refused. Usually, it was just Alice and I. it was a place to get out of the house mostly. Food, beer, music, dancing, and every Friday was a movie. Alice wasn't typically a vain girl, but even she got done up now and then when we'd go alone together.

A hard flick to my forehead brought me back. I glared at Alice not amused. She approved that my mood now matched hers. The meeting got underway when Tyler arrived with the others and assignments were handed out. As Isaac had said we were going to be headed for the ruins to search for resources.

The ruins were far different than the wilderness. It was a hostile toxic place with no room for the weak. Pokemon that lived there were desperate and even more dangerous. Many had become entirely hostile and would attack anything that drew too close. This wasn't a relocation or a patrol. This was us or them.

Before we even left town our first stop was the armory where we got equipped in field gear. body armor, heavy packs, and finally I grabbed a swat style Remington-8700 shotgun from the cabinet. It was relatively similar to its old world counterpart the 870, but it had a little more kick.

I had done firearms training for a couple years, but hadn't actually used one in quite a while. I even owned a revolver, but it wasn't something I carried on a regular basis. It was a strange feeling being behind a gun. So much power, and much more responsibility. Pokemon were certainly durable, but hardly invulnerable. During battles, Pokemon would beat each other into submission with elemental bases moves, but a shotgun or pistol wasn't quite the same. They bypassed the elemental auras and went right for the flesh and blood. Some Pokemon were durable enough to still take bullets others fast enough to dodge, but that just meant we had to be even better. Isaac walked over with a standard issue USP .45.

"Damn didn't think I'd get to use one of these again anytime soon. Was being a Ranger always so bloody?" Isaac grimaced looking at the sidearm.

"It's the ruins, Isaac. It's a bloodbath with or without us." I said solemnly, "Come on. We've got a job to do."

I left all my younger Pokemon at the ranch and built a team with Yanso, Rath, Lucas, Tex, and Pierce. Pierce may have been in his first stage, but he was the second Pokemon I ever trained, and I trusted him to hold his own.

Isaac had fewer Pokemon than I did. He only brought Turbine, his Electabuzz, Jett, his skarmory, Vent, his Torkoal, and Liam, his Makuhita. They were dependable experienced Pokemon. Turbine and Jett had been with him as a Ranger, and though the other two were newer, he trained them just the same. He didn't have a badge anymore, but he still had the spirit of a Ranger.

We decided to skip the hike and both flew to the edge of the ruins. Between the forest and the ruins was an open plain where only lichens and sparse grasses grew. This was the front line. As much as nature was creeping into the ruins the toxicity that had been there seeping into the soil persisted for centuries. What little did grow was often hardy weeds and other invasive species. They'd crop up in the cracked roads and in the decomposed debris of wooden structures. The Rangers did what they could to speed up the process and get better native plants growing, but even after two centuries, we had only made a few dents here and there. The chemical issue persisted longer the denser the area's construction was, so only certain places were cleared as suitable for reclamation. Castellia is still an entirely uninhabitable toxic waste dump.

We let our birds rest up, and sent out a Pokemon each. He had Turbine assist him, and I chose Rath. Rath was actually from the ruins. I caught him as a pup. He was powerful but prone to ferocity. It took a steady hand to raise him. He was loyal to me but still retained his feral nature to some degree.

Two hundred years of decay stood before us. Concrete and steel towering into the sky with rubble and wastes strewed around from the force of weather and degradation. Rath took the lead, his nose adapted to finding others in the hostile environment, prey and predators alike. We walked through the ruins the last memories of humanity. Sure they had escaped, but often we leave the tragedies behind. The years leading up to the arks were filled with famine and drought. Desperate people made drastic choices turning on each other in the panic. There's a reason the arks fit most of the population. We culled ourselves going from billions to a few million in a handful of years. Nature's final defense was the feral instincts in us all.

The winds howled through the open avenues, and the buildings creaked and cracked all teetering on the edge of stability. Rath kept his nose low and eyes high as he stalked along ahead of us. Isaac, Turbine, and I kept close together but gave Rath room in case he did spot something, or something spotted him. I fought the urge to strike up conversation with Isaac. Out in the open, we had to be vigilant.

By the sun it was about 1 maybe 1:30. We were in good shape, but hiking through the rubble made the last hour feel like three. Finally, we had to give in and take a rest. Isaac saw a good spot where a building had fallen across the street and made a large overhang. It was closed off on the opposite side by a wall of rubble. Rath sniffed it out and gave us the all clear. We sent out all our Pokemon to take watch. I sat down on a concrete boulder with a huff.

"So what even are we getting? You never said during the briefing." I asked after taking a drink from my canteen.

"Yeah, Tyler didn't want me mentioning it," Isaac said a bit of regret coming through.

"Why? What would need to be kept secret from the others?" I demanded now very concerned.

"He trusts everyone, but the less people who know the better. A while back Paul brought in some records from a police station that described a device some organization had developed. It was designed to force Pokemon to evolve." Isaac explained looking furious and disgusted.

"That's horrific," I growled.

"Exactly, the police reports say the device was taken and hauled off to a storage facility. After pouring over records we think we found the right one. Our job is to destroy that machine." Isaac said with fervor.

"Before Roamers find it," I muttered.

That name was highly outdated, and misleading. There used to be nomadic groups around especially in the years just after the arks. We called them roamers. Though some were harmless simply people who didn't want to settle there were others that were barbaric groups simply seeking to gain from settlements hard work. In the early years they were a major threat but now didn't stand a chance against the Rangers. Every major settlement was a member of the NARU, North Avance Ranger Union. We didn't get to communicate with too many others there were at least twelve other settlements throughout what used to be North Avance. Every couple years we'd send reps to a conference in the central most town Noric. Paul had gone to most since I joined the Rangers, but Tyler had gone before he became Ranger head.

Roamers weren't nearly as prevalent these days, but there were still a few bands that moved around. As far as we knew the only prevalent ones were at peace with the NARU. They could be as brutal as ever and the thought of roamers getting their hands on a device like this was horrifying. It could easily give them an advantage enough to take on a settlement. It's inhuman nature only added to the problem.

Evolution was a mysterious metamorphosis almost all Pokemon were capable of. It's caused by varied reasons, but always requires all the base needs of the Pokemon to be met and then to provide the drive for it to evolve. A strong bond between trainer and Pokemon can be one of the best driving forces. This, of course, makes it hard for Roamers who treat Pokemon as property and tools to get stronger evolved Pokemon. If anything the Pokemon would evolve to fight back and free itself.

Isaac pulled a portfolio from his backpack and let me inspect its contents. The device had been made by a shadowy organization called Team Rocket. The group was using it to force Magikarp to evolve into Gyarados. It was shut down by two Pokemon champions. The device was shipped over to Avance for study well outside of Rocket's area of operation. Now we just needed to finish the job.

We got up and started walking away from the alcove. Only thirty feet or so later Rath stopped and turned around. His teeth were bared and his muscles ready to launch him at a target. He looked towards me and growled. I dropped to the ground and he fired a blast of flames over me. I watched the blast fly by crashing into an angry Granbull making it fall backward. A pack of canine Pokemon were standing on the rubble that we camped beneath. At least fourteen Pokemon of seven species: The Granbull, two Mightyena, three Poochyena, two Electrike, two Houndour, and a Houndoom with a broken horn. They jumped down slowly stalking towards us.

"Old friends of yours?" I asked Rath.

He snarled and barked fearless even to the numbers. We didn't have as many, our chance was based on skill. Yanso, Tex, Rath, Jett, Turbine, and Liam made up our front line keeping the feral Pokemon from getting to the rest of us. The ferals began to howl in a monstrous chorus trying to intimidate us. There was a rowdy response from our Pokemon refusing to back down.

"Light 'em up!" I shouted over the roars of my team.

There was a barrage of attacks: Yanso threw bladed leaves, Rath continued blowing fire, and Turbine launched arcs of electricity from his arms as they spun up. The ferals scattered to dodge the attacks weaving around the broken terrain. I saw one of the Poochyena go down after being struck by turbine's lightning. It went rigid and dropped only twitching its front leg. The small fry weren't a big threat, but the big dogs were almost on top of us.

The Mightyena barreled into the front line. They both went for Liam knocking him down and drawing the attention of Turbine and Jett. One locked its jaws on Liam's shoulder while the other tried to hold off Mike's other Pokemon. Turbine wasn't having any of it and slammed down both arms on the Mightyena's head when it tried to tackle him. With two more heavy punches, the hyena was out cold. Jett jumped at the one attacking Liam bashing it with her steel beak. It was knocked sideways, but its fangs ripped at Liam's skin making him groan in pain and grab his shoulder. The Mightyena began to laugh, but Jett silenced it clamping her metal talons around its neck and squeezing until the Mightyena couldn't breathe.

My team meanwhile was working to deal with the Granbull and Houndoom. The pack leader spewed fire as he neared forcing Tex and Yanso to back up. Rath stood in the flames and howled invigorated by the fire.

Yanso taunted the Houndoom despite the type advantage it had over him. When the Houndoom leaped its jaws filled with fire it was knocked back by Rath. My houndour growled telling Yanso to find his own fight, this was his. Yanso and Tex were left to handle the Granbull who had run in on four legs but now stood on two. The Granbull and Yanso were fairly even at first. The two were trading punches, but both were quick enough to dodge most of them. Tex began charging towards the Granbull. He started slow but eventually was barreling towards him like one of the land trains.

"Rawwwwwwn rawwwwwwn!" He bellowed warning Yanso to clear out.

Yanso jumped back, but the Granbull didn't realize what was happening fast enough. Tex rammed into the bulldog's legs knocking them out from under it. It fell to the ground writhing until Yanso added insult to injury kicking the Granbull in the face to knock it out.

Rath and the pack leader Houndoom were rather close in size with Rath a bit smaller as he hadn't evolved yet. The wild one was more scarred and there was a fury burning in his eyes that went beyond Rath's. It wanted to kill, and not just to eat, but for the thrill of two hounds bashed skulls and bared their canines trying to prove their strength before the real fight. The two kept trying to prove superiority, but nothing was certain until one wasn't getting back up. The pack leader lashed out his front paws surrounded in a dark aura making a long slash along Rath's maw. With the real fight started Rath took only a moment to retaliate. His fangs sparked with electricity as he bit into the pack leader's front left leg. The wild Houndoom tried to slash away at Rath, but he refused to let go. The pack leader was slashing and biting, but nothing deterred Rath as he bit deeper and harder until he felt the bones snap in his jaw. He smashed his plated skull into the jaw of the wild Houndoom and threw it back. Crippled and bleeding the pack leader couldn't run and he couldn't fight. Rath wasn't unscathed, but he endured all the pain and the wounds standing over the wounded Pokemon howling in triumph. We had taken care of the rest of the pack and I looked up to my Pokemon. I could see blood in his fangs, but there was no fire in his eyes. He trotted up to me exhausted and looking almost sad. I knelt down to his height and scratched behind his ears. For the most ferocious of my Pokemon, he was still no monster. It wasn't an easy job to be a Ranger or a partner to one. Fighting your own kind could hardly be easy. I trained him well and given another few months he might just evolve. I looked to see the wild Houndoom writhing trying to limp away. It was unlikely it'd be able to survive, and I didn't feel like wasting ammo.

We checked over the other Pokemon, and found them to be mostly ok. None of the conscious Pokemon seemed remotely keen on sticking around us, so there was no point in trying to get them to come along. Sometimes you could convince Pokemon in the wilderness, but fully evolved Pokemon from the ruins would be a ridiculous challenge. Just like people Pokemon aren't quick to change their whole lives. I'm sure an exception would be possible just difficult.

Isaac and I tended to our Pokemon. Plasum, Rath, and Liam were not in any condition to keep fighting. They'd all rest up in their pokeballs for the rest of the trip. I actually had to bandage up Rath some. While the others just had their energy exhausted Rath had gone beyond that. He was a loyal dog, maybe even too loyal for his own good. With everyone accounted for Isaac had two Pokemon and I had four. We'd have to be very careful from here on. The warehouse was still ways away and of course, we had to make it back after.

We hiked along staying as silent as we could. I carried my shotgun with the safety off ready to fire. It was a good thing I wasn't typically jumpy. Everything was eerily still. We weren't the only ones getting by through stealth. Even a hard step could echo here. I imagine the fight earlier had been noticed by plenty. Carrying on even as the sun started to descend we reached the warehouse, or at least its remnants.

It was a squat but wide building. One floor with tons of square footage. I sent out Yanso as backup. The dilapidated building could be a perfect den, or at the very least provide another great place to ambush prey like us. Isaac followed suit with Turbine. Without any more info on where the machine was, we had the fantastic task of rifling through century-old trash. Though it wasn't really all trash I suppose. There was a seriously fascinating chance to look at how people used to live. I had my fair share of souvenirs back home. With the sun already low we might just have a chance to stick around and look through everything.

We moved silent and focused. Here we were soldiers. Rangers on a mission and nothing would stop us now. Piles upon piles of crates in various states of disrepair wound a maze through the building. We clung to the shadows, but there was little light in the first place. Only tiny shafts of the setting sunlight were able to reach inside through various holes. My hand was gripped tight on the handle of my shotgun. Something felt very off. I swore someone was breathing down my neck adding an extra weight of despair to the area. A hand on my shoulder nearly made me fire. I definitely jumped but Isaac kept me quiet. After I glared at him he pointed to a crate labeled with the code that was also in the dossier. We began to pry away at it, and eventually had Turbine just rip open the box. Along with a lot of packaging was a strange machine with dials and many cables. I started to pull it out but found the cables went much farther. Pulling out more packaging revealed that the cables continued out the other side of the crate into an open area with packaging and trash were strewn around. It was a nest. The cables went into the middle of the pile where I could see a bent metal antenna.

"I'm going to pull it free. Keep an eye out." I said.

"Jaklo we can just break the cables and box," Isaac said trying to stop me.

"I know but I've been thinking. This could teach us so much about Pokemon evolution. We should bring it back. Slate could advance his studies by years with this." I whispered back annoyed he was stalling me.

I also couldn't deny the possibility that this was just the power boost my team needed. This device could get us on par with Mike's team, or even above.

"It's too dangerous to keep around. Some tech should stay in the past. That thing can only teach us where humanity went wrong." Isaac grabbed my shoulder to reinforce his thoughts.

"But I ne-."

An echoing caw cut me off. I whipped around raising my shotgun.

Now perched on the roof of the warehouse was a giant Fearow. The razor beak Pokemon was normally about the size of a man, but this one was at least twenty feet tall covered in tumorous growths and scars.

It jumped down into its nest and swept its wings downward. The gust threw me back. I crashed into a pile of boxes a few meters away. I just grimaced and lied there trying to keep from blacking out. Even through the daze, I could hear the Fearow's battle cry. I felt a hand grab my shirt. I was dragged back further into the warehouse's maze of crates.

When I finally could open my eyes I saw Yanso kneeling next to me. We were hidden in the rubble for now. The Fearow was mostly restricted to where the roof had given way. I got to my feet and peered out into the cleared area. The Fearow was still there, but Isaac and turbine were missing. There was no way we were leaving here alive if that Fearow still was. I opened the breach on my shotgun. I pulled out the buckshot and put in a slug.

"Ready?" I looked to Yanso who nodded.

We both came out of our cover. I fired first drawing attention while Yanso raced across the room.

The Fearow sent another hurricane like gale my way, but I was ready for it and managed to stay upright, kneeling to keep my aim better. Yanso didn't want to be ignored. He dragged his claws through the concrete floor throwing massive stones at the Fearow. It bared the hit despite the stones slashing at its skin. It responded snapping its beak like a guillotine and scratching with huge talons. The two wrestled like furious monsters knowing only one would live. I fired again, but it completely ignored me. It pinned Yanso aiming its beak at his chest.

"Yanso!" I screamed

"Grovyle!" He replied

"Thunder!" A third voice joined in.

A huge bolt of lightning fell from the sky, through the hole in the roof, directly hitting the Fearow. I looked over to see Isaac and Turbine having made their way through the rubble just in time. Turbine charged in delivering a fury of punches, electricity arcing off his arms, each echoing with thunder as they hit. The Fearow cried in agony.

Isaac pulled out a steel pokeball and threw it at the massive Pokemon. It absorbed the Fearow and spun on the ground as it restrained the monster. Yanso slowly stood up resting on one knee before returning to me.

"Ya did good," I told him before offering his pokeball.

He shook his head stubborn as always.

"You aren't staying out in this condition."

"Grovyle." He groaned refusing to thin our group anymore.

"It's an order. We'll put him down. Don't worry." I told him doing my best to be confident at our odds.

Yanso begrudgingly entered his pokeball to rest.

"How long do we have?" I asked knowing that ball was just a temporary capture capsule.

"Maybe a couple minutes. We can't let it live it's feral and exceedingly powerful." Isaac said grimly.

"Yeah. I know." I nodded a solemn look on my face.

I sent out pierce and Tex while Isaac added Jett. It was six against one and I still felt terrified. We had never seen an abomination like this before. Not that I was surprised that the old world would make something like this. I gave Isaac the shotgun and had Pierce latch onto my left arm. I had practiced with him to act as a backup weapon if I ever ran out of ammo. His water blasts hurt just as much as bullets and I could give him much more mobility.

The capture capsule began to shake as it was close to breaking.

"Semper Vigilis! Stand and fight." I shouted

The capsule broke and the giant Fearow was released. Isaac had Jett ready instantly. The skarmory flew like a bullet into the much larger bird. Her steel beak stabbed into the Fearows side making it reel if only from the force. With it off center Tex had an opening to get close. He trashed his head against the ground spraying up jagged stones that cut at the Fearow's underside.

"Alright great start. Pierce lock and load." I ordered my Kabuto.

A sphere of water began to form in front of him as I took aim. The huge sphere shot off at surprising speed hitting the Fearow so hard it would have felt solid. Isaac took advantage and ordered Turbine to launch another thunder attack at the soaked Fearow. A huge bolt of lightning fell from the sky but crashed just outside of the building by the sound of it. The Fearow instantly took its opening and thrashed around injuring Tex and Jett despite their metal plates. The power was astounding, but it couldn't deter us.

I raised Pierce and ordered him to use another water pulse. Just as the orb was forming the Fearow lunged at me its lance-like beak aimed at my chest. Pierce fired the water pulse sideways throwing my arm across my body. The Fearow's beak crashed right into Pierce's rocky shell. We were thrown back, but I was uninjured from the hit Turbine came up behind using thunderpunch again to draw it off me.

"Pierce!" I shouted seeing how terribly injured my Pokemon was.

His shell had a serious crack in it and blood was pouring out of it.

"Don't you dare! I was supposed to take that hit, not you." I yelled at him furious at how sad I was.

"Buto…" He coughed looking at me with his little eyes.

He knew very well what he did. He saved my life. Another second and my heart was a kebab. Even while Turbine and the Fearow brawled I couldn't look away from my Pierce. He was one of my oldest Pokemon. He was one of my dearest friends. I had trained him for years. We had trained so hard, but it wasn't enough. I wasn't enough. It was the dragon all over again.

"I let you down… I'm sorry Pierce."

"Ka. Ka bu." He groaned, but there was a slight laugh to his voice

A brilliant light surrounded Pierce blinding everyone nearby. When all was clear again my little Kabuto had evolved into Kabutops. The evolution had largely healed him, but a gnarly scar remained across his armored head. It looked something akin to an eye patch as there was a large amount of discoloration around his left eye.

"Ka Bu Tops!' He hissed displaying his huge scythe-like blades.

"Pierce! You have the worst and best timing ever." I shouted astounded by the turn of events

The Fearow seeing its new foe raised its wings attempted to sweep him away. Pierce easily dodged the Fearow and got in close. He tore at the Fearow's chest causing heavy bleeding. His razor sharp claws super effective as he slashed the giant bird. As though purely to get revenge on the bird He lined up his right scythe and drove it deep into the bird's chest right where it would have hit me. The Fearow succumbed to its injuries and fell dead.

"That was... terrifying. This is why I retired." Isaac panted his body shaking from adrenaline, "We won by dumb fucking luck! No offense Pierce, but that's still dumb fucking luck!"

The Kabutops shrugged knowing damn well how close we came to losing. There was no way we were hiking home tonight, so we fortified the warehouse. We repositioned boxes and rubbish to block most of the gaps in the wall and used broken boards as spikes to keep things from climbing up them. With a camp set, we tended to our Pokemon. Rath was still the only one with long-term injuries. A couple hours rest and medicine would take care of the others' wounds. Since that was the case we left everyone out, save for Rath, so we could set up a guard schedule. Vent was instead given cooking duty as we used him as our campfire.

"I remember when we used to do this for fun. Nothing like cooking marshmallows over lava." Isaac joked.

"Yeah. Used to be just fun and games. To think way back when everyone got to be a trainer. Everyone got to have Pokemon and explore the world, and it wasn't because everything was on the verge of going sideways." I replied wistfully.

"Hey, you're a Ranger, Isn't it your job to be peppy and optimistic about saving nature?" Isaac once again tried to lighten the mood.

"Issac, let's be honest, I'm gold rank. I'm supposed to be above average and here we are, two people, with strong Pokemon and we struggled with one slightly stronger Fearow. A Fearow, I normally pick one up for Thanksgiving dinner. I don't know if I'm getting slow, or if the world just got a hell of a lot crueler recently, but I'm just not sure I'm ready for my rank sometimes. I love being a Ranger, do not get me wrong, but do I deserve to be?" I stared my friend in the eyes.

There was a pause. I could feel all my Pokemon looking at me, but I wasn't sure what they thought. I think they were more shocked than Isaac at what I had said.

"Do you deserve to be a Ranger? Jaklo, look at where you are. You are out in the middle of the ruins with a team of amazing Pokemon. We just took down a huge monster of a Fearow something we're likely to never see again in our lives. And you did all of this just because you want to help others. Just because you care about everyone back home. Jaklo, I'm not sure we deserve you sometimes." Isaac said happily confused by my feelings, "I don't get how you can feel so concerned when you are one of the best around. This wasn't a normal situation. You can't act like this is the norm. Yeah everyone can improve; If you give up you end up like me a terrified engineer who hides away unbending metal all day."

I sat silently taking it in.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I just can't wrap my head around it all sometimes and feel like I'm not doing enough. Like I need to be better. I need to be ready that I could treat this is normal. There's only Alice, Maria, Paul, Tyler, and I now. If something came up I have to be the best possible."

"Yeah, that's a thing called motivation. Drives you to be better. It's a good thing."

"Alright alright. I want to get some shut-eye it's a long way home tomorrow."

I lied down on my bedroll and nodded off totally exhausted. Maybe I was too hard on myself, but one thing was for certain. There were going to be far greater challenges ahead and dumb luck wasn't gonna cut it anymore.


	3. Chap 3: Faded

"There used to be a technique for fixing ceramics with gold morter. I like to think we do that on a more earthly scale." - Forgemaster Harold Gog

We rose with the sun the next morning. We didn't have to worry about being spotted while leaving, so we took to the open skies. Somehow being a hundred feet in the air still felt safer than in the ruins. When we were well past the ruins we touched down and went on by foot.

"Isaac, so last night… we you serious about why you quit the Rangers?" I asked, realizing he has never told me before.

"Yeah, I can't deny it at this point. I want to help Letchworth, but I am not cut out for this on a regular basis. I mean how the fuck do you cope with this?"

"You make it sound like I'm coping well. That Fearow was terrifying. The dragon incident..." I still shivered talking about the dragon.

"But you're still going. Mike quit. I quit well before the dragon."

"I dunno. I'm lucky?"

"I think you're tougher than you give yourself credit for. I mean you said you were gonna resign for weeks after the dragon attack. Here we are months later and you are still going. How is that just luck?"

"All I know is I'm only scraping by most of the time. I grit my teeth and keep going. I don't know if I'm more scared of the danger or letting everyone down. Between those two I'm too scared to quit and I'm terrified to keep going."

"So unstoppable force meeting and unmovable object?"

"Except I'm between both of them." I grumbled.

From there our chat sort of devolved into general catch up: how family was doing, what was the forge working on, who were the new Ranger recruits, and so on. Isaac got into a ramble about his current pet project, but I indulged him. He was trying to make a better ballistic shield. We had basically adopted the old SWAT team shields, but Isaac was trying to make a lighter easy to deploy shield that was just as strong. I didn't understand the more complex details, but it basically sounded like a folding shield that when folded up could fit around your arm. Isaac was still trying to explain the minute details when we reached the edge of town.

"So I'll have to report in to tyler, do you have to come too?" I asked Isaac as we crossed the ranch.

"I mean I was there to confirm it was the machine, and that was about it. I could if you want me to."

"Nah. Head to the forge report in there." I said feeling like I should speak with Tyler in private.

Once we crossed the gorge bridge we split up. I went straight into and through town to HQ. I didn't even bother to drop off all of my equipment before going up to Tyler's office. I saw him holding a hand to his head while the other was trying to fill out a mountain of paperwork. I tapped on his glass door realizing it might be a bad time. He looked up and instantly waved me in. I stepped inside and fell into one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Jaklo, I was almost worried. You hadn't radioed in." Tyler sounded relieved, but I think he was more glad he had an excuse to ignore the paperwork.

"Sorry. I was trying to keep my mind off the mission when we were heading back. Tyler, that machine. It didn't just make Pokemon evolve. There was a Fearow that had been nesting near it. The thing was… it was huge and deformed. It nearly wiped us out. It came down to Pierce and myself."

Tyler's relief changed to a pensive stare taking in every detail.

"After the dragon incident last year, I thought I had seen it all. Two extremely powerful Pokemon in a matter of months. Tyler I'm scared. There's no real other word for it. I'm trying to do my best, and it's not enough. I nearly got Pierce killed, I nearly got us all killed."

"Jaklo coming back from combat, you're never gonna feel right. Give it time."

"Tyler this isn't about shellshock. This is about the fact that I'm not strong enough for this. When I had Mike, I could follow his lead, and we could do this, but I can't lead like him."

"Then you need to find your own way to lead. Mike's style works for Mike and his Pokemon. You need to take a step back and find what makes you a strong Ranger. I've never expected you to be Mike or to even replace Mike. I need you to be Jaklo."

"You mean a traumatized wreck who doesn't deserve his badge."

"No. I'm talking about a man who has stood at the gates of hell and is still standing. Jaklo beating yourself up over what happened back then is only holding you back."

"So I'm just supposed to forget that I ruined Mike's life? Admit it. I'm the reason he's not here anymore."

Tyler paused and looked up at a picture hanging on the back wall of the office. It was the founder's day festival. All the top Rangers were gathered around a picnic table all smiling for the camera. Mike and I were hi-fiving at the back.

"You're right you are the reason Mike was injured because Mike saw you as reason enough to risk his life. The way you let him down is by giving up now. Then he lost his legs for nothing." Tyler said looking back to me.

That couldn't be it though. I wasn't worth half as much as Mike.

"I should have been the one taking the bullet for him. I should have protected him."

"Now that is what you forget. You forget the what ifs and should haves. This is the world we live in now, and nothing will change that. If you can't believe me go ask Mike. I'm absolutely certain he'll tell you the same."

I sat there sunk into the chair. Part of me wanted to run off and prove Tyler wrong, but what if he was right. Did Mike really think that much of me? I tried to think back to the battle. I had blocked out so much.

I was propped up against a tree. Mike had helped me hide away while our Pokemon kept the dragon busy. He said something. He told me something before he ran off back to the battle.

"I'll ask him. I have to ask him something else anyway." I said slowly getting to my feet.

I headed out of the office. Alice was waiting for me. I wasn't entirely sure I was happy about that either. She looked concerned and confused and a little irritated. None of which helped the situation.

"You didn't tell me you got back." She said, but clearly meant 'Why didn't you tell me you were back?'

"It was a stressful mission. I just needed to talk." I sighed still beyond exhausted.

"Then we can talk over lunch. My treat." Alice said with a bit more pep than I could handle right now.

"Not today Alice. I gotta go." I grumbled as we began walking down to the first floor.

"My god you really do feel like crap," Alice said mock shock.

"Can you just leave me be. I'm not in the mood. I gotta go." I said stepping away from her.

Alice went quiet and looked at me genuinely concerned. We were beyond close, so we shared everything, but right now I couldn't. Right now I was worried about myself enough. I didn't need others doing it too.

"I'll try to catch up for dinner. Just give me some time right now." I said quietly.

"You have six hours. Then you're cooking me dinner." Alice said trying her best to joke and lighten the mood.

She gave me a little kiss on the cheek and headed off to take care of her own business. I went to the lab to see if Mike could sort this out. I knocked on the front door, but no one answered. I waited there a few minutes not sure I should intrude. Eventually, the door was opened by Nix, Mike's Kadabra. Mike was right behind him.

"Oh, Jaklo… my dad isn't here now, so yo-"

I cut him off. I wasn't here for excuses.

"When we were fighting the dragon, you told me something. I need to know what that was."

Mike looked down at his leg and sighed.

"I don't remember." He muttered still not looking at me.

"Mike, please." I was genuinely begging him.

"I said: I'm sorry." He sighed.

"Mike?"

"You've been my best friend for years. Out there it was my job to keep you safe. I was your commander. I put that damned idea into our heads that we could fight that dragon."

"It's as much my fault. If I was as strong as you, we'd have destroyed that thing."

"Jaklo, that's not how this works. I'm the one responsible. I made the call. I'm the one who thought he was good enough alone. You can get stronger, but because I made that choice I… can't anymore. If I got you crippled..."

"You can always come back. Even if you aren't in the field."

"Jaklo. I'm discussing that now. Though, I guess, I'm glad you came by. I've been talking with my Pokemon. They still deserve to be out there. I can't give them that anymore. If you ever need them they are ready to serve."

Nix nodded firmly.

"I don't know. Your team was always leagues ahead of mine. Give me some time. I won't take them if I can't serve them."

"For now then, I suggest you go home. Dad told me about the mission you were out on."

"I'll seeya later Mike."

"Bye Jaklo."

I headed home a long solemn walk. I let my Pokemon relax in the yard while I went inside. I tossed my uniform and gear on the floor. I pulled on some comfortable pants and lied down. I couldn't sleep though. It didn't matter how tired I felt. I was too on edge. Everything weighed on my mind. I kept replaying the battle from years ago with that mysterious Pokemon. Mike blamed himself. I never saw it that way. I still wasn't sure he was right.

I decided it would only be fair to tell Tyler he was right. I grabbed my radio and dialed it to his office channel.

"Tyler?" I checked if he was there.

"This is Tyler." He replied with a stern generic tone.

"So what would you say if you were right about Mike?" I sighed.

"I'd try not to rub it in, but that's only because you already looked like shit when you came into my office." There was a slight chuckle to his voice as he spoke.

"Thanks," I grumbled.

"Look Jaklo, if you still aren't feeling comfortable with missions we can extend recovery time a bit longer. I still think you just need to find your own way through this. You won't solve things I how did growing up. You won't solve things like Mike did. Only you can find out what gives you strength and what makes you stronger." Tyler went on philosophical as ever.

"Do you at least have a suggestion of how to find that?"

"Normally I'd say look for a test, but you've been through enough tests. Why are you still standing after everything? Find that out, and then you can find how to get stronger."

"I gu-"

Tyler cut me off almost instantly.

"I'm not the one who needs to know. This is for you. Before I let you try and figure that out, I do have something for you. Do you remember the Pokemon league?"

"From the archives? It's a little hard to forget something that important."

"Well the NARU has been considering rebuilding it. They want to set up gym challenges in all the capitals."

"And you think I should take it on? I'm not really big on leaving Letchworth."

"To be honest I don't know that it'll even get off the ground, but I think it might be good for experience. They're looking at a sort of Ranger exchange program to coexist with it. Get Rangers some expanded horizons."

"We'll see how it goes. I don't think so though."

"Ok then, get some rest. You'll be off duty for one week."

"Yes, sir," I said before shutting the radio off.

I lied there with even more thoughts to try and sort. The only thing that stopped me was five knocks on my door. Three fast and two slow. Alice was here.

I stretched after standing. My back was still sore from sleeping on the ground two days ago. I shuffled over to the door and let Alice in. She was dressed in a light blue sundress and sandals.

"An attempt to cheer me up? It might just work." I said approvingly as I looked her over.

"I had to do something. If you stayed mopey I was gonna have to cook my own dinner tonight." She giggled.

"Alright come on in and get comfy. I'll start cooking." I said stepping aside for her.

Alice sat down at my little kitchen table while I rummaged through the fridge and freezer. I pulled out ingredients for sort of shepherd's pie and got to work. Alice casually went on about the last few days and what I missed out on. When she ran out of topics I started talking about the mission. I tried to make it sound less terrifying than it was, but it wasn't easy to play down the giant Fearow. Alice quietly took it all in. We both fell quiet for a while the mood having been damaged. When I finally had all the food together the atmosphere improved greatly. I sat down as close to Alice as I could placing the plate between us.

"Good appetite," I said with a half smile.

We dug in enjoying just being together and being normal. For a lot of people, it was all they could ask for. Ranger's both gave it up and helped to ensure it.

When dinner was done we lied down on my bed and I pulled out my laptop. I had a few movies on it from the library even though I wasn't really supposed to as it was from the Ranger station. We got cozy and enjoyed some ancient history. It was probably around midnight when the battery ran out and I put it away. We lied there content with the company as a gentle rain started to come down.

"So I was talking with Tyler, I'm probably gonna be using my recovery time for training."

"What kind? Aren't you up to date on everything?" Alice asked through a yawn.

"No, I mean like general real-life training. I can't just let things keep happening like this. I'm cutting things too close."

"I'd much rather see you training than moping around, but what exactly are you gonna do?"

"I'm not sure yet. Tyler was talking about needing to figure out what got me this far, but as far as I remember that was Mike leading me."

"I'm not trying to undermine Mike here, but he wasn't the only one that made our squad strong. We all brought something to it."

"What do you think I brought to it?"

"Well, you were always a bit more out of the box than Mike. You also were way better with non-combat. Mike was a great leader, but not the greatest diplomat."

"Not sure about the first one. I get the second, but I can hardly train a team for handling threats with that. There was no talking our way out with the dragon or the Fearow."

"You asked."

"All I know for sure is it'll be a long week." I sighed heavily.

"Ok then. We'll see how it all goes. For now, though I have some other plans." Alice said a happy smirk on her face.

"I thought you were getting tired," I said raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you ruined that already." She rolled her eyes as she spoke.

I shrugged giving in. We started with a long slow kiss and then it became more.

The next morning I woke up with Alice still in my arms. With the nature of my last mission I had the day off, but Alice hadn't mentioned anything about her schedule. I kissed her forehead and told her it was morning before getting out of bed and going to cook breakfast. A little bit later Alice got up and made a kind of toga out of my sheet. It was certainly brisk this morning, but I had a lot more bulk than Alice so I was dealing with it much better despite being only in my boxers. I did very much appreciate the warmth of the oven though. The little stove quickly warmed the whole building before I even finished cooking.

"So do you have work today? I'm still on recovery for the week." I said looking over my shoulder at Alice.

"I work today and tomorrow." She said yawning slightly trying to wake up.

"So we're both off Friday and Saturday? Great, we can get together at the lounge. I don't know what they are showing, but does it really matter?" I asked jovially.

"No. Just nice to spend time with you." Alice sighed happily, "Good to see your mood improved."

"With everything you did last night I'm not sure I couldn't be feeling any better," I smirked at her.

I served up eggs and bacon for breakfast. Alice ate through hers quickly before retrieving a spare set of clothes she kept here. She kissed my cheek before heading home to get her uniform. I sighed already missing her. I finished breakfast at a relaxed pace before changing clothes and going to check on my Pokemon. I had left them all to do as they pleased last night and needed to make sure none had gotten into any real trouble. Rath and Yanso were awake and in the yard talking to each other. I found the rest in the barn. I made a piercing whistle to wake everyone up. At their own paces, they got up and came outside. Pierce was the last out. He walked slowly one of his wrists held up to his head.

"I'm not surprised you have a headache." I chuckled, "Pierce and Rath you two can sit today out. You pulled plenty of your weight yesterday."

The Kabutops let out a half laugh before shuffling back into the barn to lie down. Rath sat right where he was determined to be involved. All my Pokemon gathered around curious what we'd be up to. I knelt down to be closer to their heights.

"Guys, before anything else I want you to know that I am so proud of what we've done together. We've come a long way, but right now I feel like we're stuck. I know we can be so much better. I'm gonna do everything I can help us do that, but I need to know you all are with me on this. Succeed or fail, we do this as a team."

Yanso stepped up and smiled raising his fist. With that, all of my team cheered. I grinned as I got back to my feet.

"Alright then. From this point on we're back in training." I said, "Now I one more thing to ask you guys, how are we training?"

Yanso gave a doubtful glance raising his brow.

"No seriously. I could have you guys run laps or practice formation all day, but where is that really gonna get us? What do we really need?"

Nort was, surprisingly enough, the first to pipe up.

"Swin… swini ni nub." He said quietly looking up at the others cautiously.

"Well, Nort I don't bring you and Baroness on missions often because it's really not safe. You two actually could just use more practice. That sort of ability just comes with time." I tried to console him.

"Bui wuiz." Baroness rolled her eyes and scoffed at Nort.

"Hey, don't you talk down to him like that. There are no bad suggestions right now. If it matters to you then it matters to me."

"Gro. Gro vy." Yanso said rather matter of fact.

"I suppose that's valid. I was trying to be more hands off and let you guys lead yourselves more when I need you all but really isn't that my entire job. You all have enough to worry about in combat. I'm the one who needs to be guiding the battle in whole."

"Noo'ctoo." Lucas quickly added.

"Seriously? I mean when we were back in bronze the combination moves were good, but do you guys think they were that useful?"

"Rair, ra rag ra ra." Tex agreed.

"If you want to put those back into practice we can. Not sure the ones we had are gonna be as useful, but we'll see. Anyone else?"

Everyone looked around, but no one said anything.

"Alright, so what I'm hearing is that you guys want more planning, more ways that we're working together. If that's what we need that's what we work on. You guys up for a battle to set the benchmark?"

All of them cheered ready for some action. I had seven Pokemon right now so I decided a singles three versus four would be the best option. I assigned Yanso, Lucas, and Baroness to one team while Tex, Nort, Rath, and Plasum were on the other.

Baroness and Plasum were the first to take the field. While Baroness was a young Buizel she was a feisty little lady. Plasum was quite a bit larger and had more experience. Baroness went first running forward summoning a layer of ice around her right hand before jumping up to punch Plasum. The Haunter effortlessly dodged away with his levitation cackling the whole time. Baroness continued to leap at him with her ice punches, but Plasum just had too much room to move. Plasum remained up out of reach mocking the short Buizel.

"Don't overdo the trash talking, Plasum. The ultimate goal is to work together better ourselves." I warned him, "Besides standing still won't let you win either."

Suddenly Baroness opened her mouth wide and fired a jet of water up at Plasum while we were talking. The water probably hurt just as much as if she would have punched him. Plasum reeled back caught off guard. Baroness fired off as many blasts as she could while Plasum was disoriented. When Baroness needed a quick breather Plasum was able to recover. He stared down at the Buizel and hissed. His face began to shimmer like a mirage before a giant projection of a horrible face flashed before Baroness. She squealed and fell over surprised. Plasum wasn't messing around now. He got in close and started to throw his own punches tossing Baroness around like a ragdoll. Plasum began to close in on Baroness ready to knock her down again. As he raised a hand clouded in shadowy energy a shiiiiing tuff cut through the air and stopped everything. Before Plasum was a razor-sharp leaf embedded in the ground. The Haunter looked quickly off to his side to see Yanso there. Baroness tapped Yanso's foot making the Grovyle smirk. He slashed at Plasum with his leaf blades. Though also made of leaves the cells were so perfectly aligned to give it a sharpness akin to a knife blade. They raked across Plasum making him retreat in pain.

"It is a team fight." I chuckled seeing Yanso stand up for Baroness.

Plasum and Yanso began to brawl throwing punches and slashing with their claws. The two were a flurry of black and green bounding around the area. Yanso finally was able to knock down Plasum who tapped out when he saw Yanso readying another leaf blade attack. Yanso let him go and waited for his challenger. Rath stepped up knowing he had the advantage. The houndour stalked out into the battleground his head low as he watched Yanso. The Grovyle made the first move dashing forward in leaps and bounds before delivering a clean blow to Rath's skull. Rath stood right where he was bearing the impact. Yanso reeled back realizing he just landed a punch on Rath's thickened skull plate. Rath growled fire beginning to show through his teeth. He opened his maw letting flames spew out in all directions. Yanso jumped over the houndour and started running to get some distance.

Rath turned and slowly began to walk after Yanso. I couldn't tell if he was moving slowly because of his injuries or because he was planning something. Yanso wasn't sticking around for planning though. He kept a wide breadth from Rath not letting him get another easy shot with a fire type attack. A small brown sphere appeared in Yanso's right claw. He produced another in his left. In rapid-fire he began to throw them producing a new one by the time he threw the previous. The brown spheres peppered the ground before exploding. The blasts were forceful, but not fiery. The explosions threw up dust and dirt making me shield my face. When I lowered my arms Yanso was on top of Rath punching away. Rath did his best to stand his ground. He roared with fury as fire flew out from him in every direction. Yanso was caught in the wave of flame, but it dissipated before hitting anyone else. He was in serious pain from the fire but managed to stand. Rath wasn't looking so hot either. He was shaking and panting. I didn't quite recognize the attack, so I assumed he had taken the pushing limits to heart even if it didn't go so well. Tex stepped onto the field offering to trade in, but Rath shook his head before howling loud enough for the whole town to hear. He charged at Yanso fiery sparks falling from his maw. He leaped mouth wide open biting at Yanso. My Grovyle was able to stagger out of the way once but was hit from beyond and thrown down by Rath. He showed a mouth full of fire to Yanso making him begrudgingly tap out.

Baroness stepped back in not quite ready to be done. Rath took one look and trotted off. He was done too. I sighed and looked at him deadpan. He yawned and lied down in the sun.

"Alright, Tex. You got two between you and Nort. Show me what you've got." I said unsure if he could do much in this fight.

He plodded out into the battlefield looking at Baroness with a curious grin. Baroness began to run at him but didn't expect what came next. Tex stood up on his hind legs before slamming his whole weight down on the ground. A tremor shook the ground before him making Baroness topple over. Tex charged as fast as he could ramming into Baroness like a train. The little Buizel went flying at least fifteen feet.

"Shit… I know I said push it, but... shit." I groaned running over to Baroness.

She was whimpering and seemed to be in a lot of pain.

"Battles done. Tex you need to be a little more careful in sparring. Lucas, get us to the infirmary." I said picking Baroness up.

The day had started out well, but this was exactly what I was concerned about. We all just weren't coordinated enough with each other and that had to change. We were all strong, but we needed to be strong together.


	4. Chap 4: A Walk in the Park

"If you thought joining the Rangers would be fun you were right. If you thought it'd be easy I'd ask you to leave before you embarrass yourself." Paul Riecher's address to new recruits

The next day was more of the same. Up early for training and more attempts to try and get us working better together. I had brought my whole team up to the ranch so we were a bit closer in case we had another incident like yesterday. When I gave everyone a break for lunch I went into town searching for Paul. As I expected I found him eating lunch at the HQ mess. I got myself food and sat down with him.

"Jaklo," He greeted me after swallowing another bite of his burger, "Tyler told me about the Fearow. I'd've kept that for my wall."

"Never really been a fan of mounts. Probably could have taken a talon I guess. They were bigger than my hand." I emphasized the point holding up a flat hand for comparison.

"You should be real proud. Hopefully, that thing was one of a kind. When I found the schematics for the machine I never imagined it was currently functioning."

"I think it was still working when we got there. I was thinking back over the battle, and I think that might be why Pierce evolved. We had been right on top of the machine and Turbine was launching lightning everywhere, so it could have powered on and made Pierce evolve."

"Might want to get him a checkup then. Don't know what the adverse effects could be."

"I'll try and schedule one with Prof. Slate. I'll have to find a good time between training."

"Oh? What made you start up again? You've been saying that you get 'on the job training' for months." Paul asked with a bit of concern and confusion.

"I guess that last mission reminded me I didn't get here by being lazy and that I'm not the top of the food chain," I replied with a defeated shrug.

"So you got rattled by that Fearow." He said with a slight laugh, "Don't worry about it kid. We've all met our match before. You and your team put up a damn good fight from what I hear."

"It was brutal. I've had to put a Pokemon down before, but nothing that powerful, and the only thing more powerful… well even you, guys could only drive it off." I said my voice becoming shaky as I thought of the dragon Pokemon.

"And you're doing the right thing to help with it. You're training. You're working at solving the problem." Paul said unsure of what the problem was.

"Yeah, I've been told that, but I'm having trouble finding how to train. It's not like before where it was strength training and running laps or learning smoke signals and firearms. I need to really find a way to lead my Pokemon and teach them because right now I don't know what else I can offer." I said reaching the crux of the issue.

"Now that is a difficult question. I've always said experience is the best mentor. Perhaps trying changing up how you and your Pokemon work together. Try to find a new way to get things done. We'll never know a Pokemon's full potential, but you certainly won't be tested much sitting around here. I may just have an idea." Paul smiled a cocky grin, "I've been wanting to send a large group of the lower ranked Rangers up to the old dam at the top of the park. Not many have volunteered, but if you would be willing you could go and try to clear the area. It's fairly close to some minor swamped ruins, so it won't be easy. On top of that last scouting mission showed signs of the dam becoming a Pokemon den. After you clear it out then you'll have to hold the area until we designate a trail to get there and build the outpost. It'll be a pretty long stay."

"Tyler was ok with this?" I asked concerned about the sudden expansionist idea.

"I know we don't want to go crazy and expand unchecked, but we are looking at only occupying the dam to help control the river flooding. Rushing's been taking some pretty bad hits from the summer storms."

Rushing was a fair distance down river from us, and I knew they had issues with flooding, but should we go this far entirely changing the environment for their sake. It was that kind of thinking that got us in this mess.

"What about the swamp down past the dam. We'd dry that up."

"Jaklo you know we wouldn't block that much water. We are for the balance of humanity and nature above all else. This is for emergencies. That dam is a possible lifesaver for all the people in Rushing." Paul said offended by my accusation.

"Sorry. Guess I'm just on edge about everything. It's not even just Pokemon battling. I'm just waiting for that next disaster."

"Never just wait. If you think something is gonna happen prepare."

"Alright, When I'm ready I'll do it. Did you want me to bring any of the lower Rangers?"

"You should do what you are most comfortable with. You wanted to train and take on a challenge, so you decide." Paul said and left it at that.

When I returned to the ranch I thought about the upcoming task of taking the dam and came up with an interesting exercise. I drew two lines in the dirt and lined everyone up behind the first one. I stood on the other side before giving them instructions.

"You're job is simple. Get across without stepping in between the lines or going around them, treat it like a pit. When I say you I mean everyone. No one is getting left behind. Ready?"

They all nodded, grunted, or cheered. Yanso made the first move jumping across with no problem. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he just shrugged. Nort stepped up to the line and looked across to the other one then back to the first and across again.

"Not everyone can jump or fly, but all of you have potential especially if you work together." I cheered them on.

All of them began to chatter and argue the idea of how to get across. Even friends weren't likely to agree instantly. They seemed to split up into three groups. Pierce, Nort, and Baroness. Lucas, Rath, and Plasum. Then Tex sat alone. No one seemed to have an answer on how to move the metal clad monster. For now, they put their base plans into effect. Pierce lunged at the other line sinking his claws into the other side while he planted his feet behind the first line Nort with the help of Baroness scampered across Pierce's back to the other side. Once across Pierce simply threw himself over. Plasum and Lucas had an even simpler plan flying Rath over together. This, of course, left Tex alone.

"Come on guys. You have to find an answer somehow. You can't lift him and he can't jump. You have to bridge the gap, but he's too heavy for him to cross with Pierce. Think about it and put your heads together."

At first, they broke into squabbling arguments over who was supposed to help Tex. Then Yanso stepped up silencing everyone. He pointed to Baroness and told her to spray water out into the gap. Next, he had Nort freeze it as it sprayed.

"That's a bit too thin to support Tex. He'd crush it and touch the ground."

Yanso shook his head at me and instead sent Nort across the bridge. Now with two of them back on the original side, I was very curious about the plan. Yanso called to Tex and had him kick up a bunch of dirt over the ice bridge. From there the group repeated the process making a brown bridge made of, what was essentially, permafrost. It hadn't been fast, but it was effective. Tex and Nort just trotted across without issue.

"Hmm. Not a bad trick. Good work. That goes for all of you. I'm gonna try and balance the training around this. There are times where any one of us might not be able to do something, that's when we all step up to help. Sometimes it might be one of you guys, it might even be me. We're not just a team. We are a family." I announced to them the fire in my eyes starting to rekindle.

The entire afternoon went to exercises like this. All of them were amazingly strong, but we lacked the organization of a real team. The only way we got through previous disasters was dumb luck, and I wasn't gonna rely on that. We were all gonna rely on each other instead. As training wrapped up I let everyone stay at the ranch except Yanso who insisted on staying with me.

The sun was shining harshly in the clear orange sky as it started its descent. Spring was only a few weeks in, but it was surprisingly warm this year. I dreaded what it might be like in summer this year. The storms concerned me more than the heat. Whenever a heatwave hit a thunderstorm was right behind. Rain was soothing, even thunder and lightning could be relaxing, but a real storm was a serious threat. Not only was the weather dangerous, but the bigger thunderstorms drew strong electric Pokemon to them. Nothing too bad had ever shown up, but through the lens of paranoia, I started worrying myself again. One disaster was enough for this week.

At first, I thought about going home, but as I walked with Yanso besides me I couldn't help but start thinking about something better. The sun was starting to get low, but despite that, there was a new fire burning in me. I turned towards the outskirts and headed into the forest. Yanso was right behind me though he didn't seem to know what was going on as he scrambled to keep up.

Everything was turning a pale blue as the sunlight faded away. The gorge was my guide as we went through the forest. Over the mile or so we hiked the gorge gradually widened. I stopped when the other side was hundreds of meters from me. The gorge was bent like a "U" making a massive clearing. The sky was just fading from blue to black as I arrived. I found a comfy spot and sat down looking at the heavens.

"Gro goro?" He looked around confused on why we were here.

"Just sit down. Enjoy the view." I chuckled.

As the sun vanished entirely the darkness of the sky was held off by the brilliance of a billion stars. This was one of the best places to see them. No lights from town, no trees, just a vast theater for the stars to dance upon.

"Yanso. The last year has changed everything. I won't act like I'm not scared, but it's not about me anymore. The world is much bigger than that" I asked determined while gazing off into the stars, "This is our chance to be better though. We can be stronger, we can be smarter, but none of that matters if we aren't a team. I need to know you'll always be here for me. You can't run off and leave me. When we met we promised to get stronger together. If you want to run off and train in the middle of the night you're not doing it without me."

Yanso looked at me and sighed.

"No arguing. We're in this together, and that means if you are doing midnight training sessions so am I." I said with a new confidence and big grin.

"Grove gro grov grov," Yanso argued slicing his right hand through the air.

"Well, why shouldn't I? I need to train too. Can't let you show me up." I chuckled egging him on.

He growled stomping his foot. He began to rant and shout. I just laughed at his tantrum.

"Seriously? Act your age Yanso." I snickered facepalming.

"GRAA!" He shouted extremely serious getting right up in my face.

There was a rustling in the brush behind us. Both of our heads snapped towards the sound. I stood up and shined my flashlight towards the forest. Yanso hissed creeping closer to the treeline. The brush rustled again before a Persian pounced out onto Yanso. It knocked down and pinned Yanso before roaring right in his face. Without a second thought, I ran up and delivered a full force kick to its head. The Persian rolled backward keeping its head down.

"Steel toes. Never leave home without them." I laughed maniacally before helping Yanso up.

The Persian hissed revealing a bloody mouth and multiple broken teeth. Yanso raised a hand to make me stand back before charging in to fight. The leaves on his arms shined as they became perfectly straight and razor sharp. He and the Persian began to circle sizing each other up. Once the Persian had its back to me pulled a knife out of my boot and lunged at it. It heard me coming and easily leaped sideways out of my reach. Yanso followed up instantly using his leaf blades to slash at the Persian's exposed flank. The cat Pokemon screeched in pain as the blade cut into its shoulder. It tried to retaliate with a flurry of slashes with its claws, but Yanso jumped backward to my side.

"Gro Gro!" He yelled at me demanding I back up.

"Not on your life. I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines. If I'm gonna lead I need to be fighting as much as the rest of you." I said full of determination and adrenaline.

The Persian growled starting to slink towards us. It was limping slightly on the leg that Yanso had hit. We had our opening.

"Come on ya pussy." I taunted waiting for the Persian to act.

It broke into a dash before jumping towards me. I ducked and rolled letting it fly over me. When it landed it's front right leg buckled and whined in pain.

"Yanso keep him down!" I shouted just getting to my feet.

Yanso ran up to the downed Persian punching and stomping on it in the cut he had made earlier. The Persian writhed in pain as he continued striking the wound. When the big cat seemed to be on the verge of passing out Yanso backed off. I put both hands on my head taking some deep breaths.

"Almost forgot how thrilling battle can be when it isn't a giant dragon or a mutant bird." I half laughed trying to catch my breath.

"Grovyle! Gro vyle!" Yanso shouted angrily.

He slashed an X through the air with both arms before pointing to the Persian and then to himself.

"What? I mean sure you probably had that fine, but there is no reason I can't help. I didn't do seven years of combat training just to stand around while you guys fight." I explained confused at his anger.

He growled and threw a fit before letting out a long sigh and letting his head droop. He looked up to me scared and worried.

"Yanso I'll be fine. I know my limits. I can fight a Persian not a legendary. When we fight one of those I'll trust you guys." I told him shrugging off his concern.

Yanso still looked unconvinced.

"The only way we get through this is if we become a real team, and for that, I need to be a part of it not just a leader from the side. How can I call myself your partner when I just sit there giving vague tactical advice? When it fits the fight there's no reason I shouldn't be up there. We both learned to fight through the Rangers."

"Gro? Gro gooo!" Yanso called me out.

"First you don't want me fighting, now you're gonna knock some sense into me. Just try me." I grinned.

Yanso lunged at me becoming a blur in the darkness. I jumped to the side and pulled my arm in close ready to strike with my knife. I heard the tiniest rustle of leaves and dove away from the sound. Jumping out into the full moonlight Yanso slammed his fists into the ground where I had just been.

"Come on gotta hit where I am not where I was." I taunted him.

"Gro!" He roared jumping at me again.

I ducked low and threw a punch into his gut as he went over me. When I pulled my fist back all my knuckles were in intense stinging pain.

"Ow…" I took a deep breath to control myself, "Ok so maybe I can't just punch issues with my bare fists. So maybe I'm a bit caught up in the moment, but it's not like every Pokemon is a dragon. There's enough armor in my normal uniform for everyday encounters. If nothing else if I'm more used to fighting right beside you guys I know how to get the heck out of there better."

Yanso also took a deep breath.

"Gro. Goro go grovyle." He sighed.

"I'm not hearing a no."

Yanso growled to restate his disapproval, but he didn't refuse it as before. I grinned at my partner patting him on the shoulder.

"Yanso, we do it together just like always. Just like we promised." I said with a certainty I could only have with a rare few things, "You've had my back. I get yours."

We locked eyes, and finally, Yanso nodded.

"Just like when we met all those years ago. Then again maybe not as literal." I chuckled, "Let's head home."

We walked along under the moonlight. I couldn't help but look back on that day we met. It wasn't a memory to smile on, but it was a memory that made me. It was precious even if it wasn't joyful.

It was over a decade ago. Before the scars, before the nightmares, and before I knew who I was. The summer sun was warm as it filtered through the treetops. I was perched near the highest branch slowly picking the apples and stowing them in my bag. It was every day. Nothing different. With the last one tucked into the bag, I stood up and just barely was able to peek over the treetops. From the very edge of the orchard, I looked out over the expanse of trees and on towards the town. It was the same as always.

Then a single sound tore through it all. The single booming crack of a rifle being fired. More shots followed and a cacophony whistles from the west. They had come again. I tried to scramble down the tree. I threw my bag down trying to move faster. By the time I made it to the bottom I could see most of the other pickers already nearing the town south gate. The sounds were just chaotic shouting, the alarm, and gunfire.

I ran towards the group, but I was so far out. By the time I was halfway to the crowd was inside and the gates were shut. So I did the one thing I was good at and climbed. I found the biggest tree I could and pulled myself up. I tried to tuck myself away as high as I could. I thought I was grabbing another limb, but in my panicked hurry, I hadn't realized it was a Pokemon's limb not the trees. I fell back out of the tree tumbling down with the Pokemon I had accidentally grabbed. I landed on my arm which made pain rush up and down it like it was consumed in fire. I could get a good look at the Pokemon now. It was a green reptile with a leaf-like tail and an olive belly, nothing we raised on the ranches. I didn't know if it was a ranger Pokemon or wild. The Pokemon's leg was twisted funny, and it was my fault. I couldn't leave it. Any Pokemon the raiders got their hands on suffered fates worse than death. The Pokemon wasn't much smaller than me, but I did my best hoisting him onto my back holding him there with my one good arm. I ran stumbling forward with my back hunched to keep the Pokemon there. The only hope I had was to make it to one of the farm buildings.

I barely got to one of the barns before I fell over exhausted. I dragged myself on my belly too tired to walk, but too terrified to not keep moving. When I got inside I looked for somewhere good to hide. There was a pile of hay in the corner that could work. I got up and hid the Pokemon away. Before I could get hidden as well a someone shouted behind me.

"Heh heh heh. You lose your mom n' dad?" The man laughed.

I slowly turned holding up my one good arm. The guy was wearing dirty torn up clothes and carrying a rifle which was aimed right at me. The fear was so intense that I felt like I couldn't breathe. Maybe I actually wasn't. The man started walking towards me a monstrous grin on his face.

"Always can use another pack mule. You're mine now kid." The man coughed out another laugh.

He was right in front of me. I shut my eyes certain he was about to grab me and take me away. Then suddenly there was a rapid series of ratatatatatatata. The man groaned in pain and I heard him stumble back. I opened my eyes to see him clutching his face. I turned back to see the Pokemon I had carried sitting up in the hay staring intensely at the man.

"Tree tereeecko!" The Pokemon shouted furiously.

I just backed up against the wall unsure where to go now. The man was starting to get up. Even if this Pokemon could put up a bit of a fight how could it hold of a raider with a gun? Then I had an idea.

"Get on my back. You shoot I run." I told the Pokemon in a sudden flash of inspiration.

With no time to argue the Pokemon agreed and clung onto my back before I made a break for the door. I bent forward and the Pokemon turned around to aim back at the raider. The Pokemon began spitting speeds out of its mouth rapid fire. It sounded like a super heavy rain all collected in one spot. The raider again growled, but then I heard his rifle fire. The crack was almost deafening. I still felt like I did before so I kept running I managed to get outside the barn and kept running up the orchard path.

"I'm gonna kill you ya li-" The raider shouted but was cut off by a roar that shook the ground.

"TOOOOR!" Echoed through the orchard.

"Atlas, earthquake!" A calm, but extremely serious voice commanded.

After another roar and a massive crashing sound, the entire area began to shake. I completely lost footing and fell over. I lied there finally spent as the world kept shaking. When everything was still I heard someone approaching. I began to cry. I had spent everything and didn't have the energy to hold it together. I just wept into the grass terrified.

"Just don't take the Pokemon. It's my fault. Don't hurt him." I cried bawling my eyes out.

"No one is getting hurt anymore." It was the calm voice from before.

Slowly I lifted my head up and looked to see PR. Tyler squatted next to me. Even knowing it was him I just wasn't done crying yet. He picked me up and let my head rest on his shoulder. On his other shoulder, I could see the Pokemon that I had met. Tyler carried us towards the gate with his Torterra following along behind.

"Stop right there Ranger!" A man yelled from ahead.

"Give me just a moment boys," Tyler whispered setting us down.

The raider had his gun trained on Tyler and was a fair distance away in the orchard. Tyler raised his hands to surrender, but as he did the roots of the trees came tearing up out of the ground to ensnare the man. He was covered from head to toe in roots and his gun was bent and crushed by them.

"Let's get you two inside now." Tyler grinned down at us.

He picked both of us back up and carried us through the gates. I was certain I had soaked through his armored vest by the time we reached them. I also didn't seem to have any more left in me. Tyler let me sit down on the back of his Torterra where I just sat silently with my eyes staring off beyond the distance.

"Ay, don't go quiet on me now. Ya still gotta tell me what your name is so I can bring you home." Tyler said looking at me with soft green eyes and a gentle smile.

"W…" I almost spoke then couldn't then tried forcing it out, "Wight."

After that, I locked right back up curled in a little ball.

"Heh, Why am I not surprised? You're just like your grandad." Tyler laughed.

"You knew Papa?" I asked quietly.

"Knew him? He taught me everything I know. Jak "Buck" Wight, was my hero." Tyler had just a fond joy to his voice.

"I didn't get to know him." I sniffed rubbing my nose.

"Strange. You're just like him." Tyler said.

"What do you mean?"

"You're how old? Seven?"

"I'm eight!" I replied indignantly.

"Eight. Well then, I don't know another eight-year-old who can do what you did out there."

"Huh?"

"Even with how dangerous it was, you carried this poor guy to safety. Risking your own to do it."

"It was my fault he fell."

"Then you're being responsible. It seems this Treecko likes you for it."

The Pokemon was still being held by Tyler. It had turned to look at me. Our eyes met and something just clicked. Slowly both of us smiled. Tyler sat the Treecko next to me.

"Let's get both of you to the HQ, so we can have a doctor look you over and I can find your parents." Tyler grinned at the sight, "Then I think I have something for the both of you.

When we got home I sat down in the kitchen and pulled a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard. I poured myself a glass and kicked back. Yanso had also come in and sat up in the loft with his legs over the edge.

"You think you can have a glass of this?" I asked him genuinely curious.

"Go ro?" Yanso raised a brow questioning if I was okay.

"What can I say I'm in a good mood. I wanna toast to us actually getting somewhere. It feels like we're moving forward for the first time in forever. I mean what good had happened since the dragon? Pierce evolving is probably the best, and even then with the circumstance it about evens out. But now… I just feel like we can do something." I chuckled.

I definitely had the joy of a drunk despite having only taken a sip. Yanso hopped down grabbed my glass. He lifted it up to the light and looked over it.

"I mean its plants, water, alcohol. Should probably be fine." I said shrugging as I went to get another glass.

Yanso threw the drink back downing what remained in the glass in one gulp. He didn't seem bothered by it until a little later. He grumbled sticking his tongue out.

"Heh, yeah the aftertaste is something you get used to or cover up." I chuckled, "Want another shot?"

He shrugged going along with all. I poured us both glasses and raised mine into the air. Yanso matched my actions.

"To the Rangers and their Partners!" I yelled.

"Gro!" Yanso cheered.

We both took a drink and sat back down. I wasn't kidding about what I said. Tonight I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time. Hope.


	5. Chap 5: Hit Fast, Think Hard, Move Smart

"There are a million ways to crack a nut. Some are better. Others are worse. But it's best to go with the options that don't cause nuclear fallout." - PR. Kyle Maez on advanced strategy

The next day I got everyone together again. We headed to Prof. Slate's lab so that he could run that check up on Pierce before training. The professor was tidying up his medical station when we arrived.

"Good morning, Jaklo, I apologize for the mess. I never seem to be able to keep this lab clean. Too many projects and too few shelves." The professor said with a bit of a sigh.

"I don't mind. My place would be a mess if I had enough stuff to make one." I told him with a laugh.

"Yes well, I'll have this tidied up in a moment. You could check in with Mike if you wish. He seems to be in much better spirits today."

I pursed my lips wondering if it had to do with our conversation the other day. The professor informed me he was out in the garden again, so I headed around to find him. He was sitting on the ground in the middle of the grass with his seedot, Odette.

"Seee seee." Odette called wobbling side to side to wave to me.

"Knew I shoulda stayed inside today." Mike sighed, but he had the faintest of smiles as he did.

"So, ya actually feeling better?" I asked tentatively hopeful.

"I guess I've been getting a bit tired of wallowing in my own self-pity. I still dunno what I'm gonna do with myself. At the very least I can stop being an asshole while figuring it out." Mike explained rubbing the end of his left leg.

"Maybe you can talk to Tyler about that," I suggested.

" I dunno. Can you keep this between us for now though? The last thing I want right now is everybody trying to see how I'm doing. I'll figure this out at my pace." Mike said very seriously.

"You got it. Though if you'd be willing I was gonna have my team doing some practice today. I'm sure they'd get a lot more fighting against Aeron or Cobalt."

"I'm sure they'd be willing to help, but I'd rather not," Mike said shaking his head.

"I'll go find them after Pierce's check up then."

"Everything okay with him?"

"We'll find out. He evolved out on that mission I was on. Considering we were disabling a forced-evolution device, I'm concerned about the cause. Sure Pokemon can evolve at any time, but it was just a bit too convenient." I left it at that as to not keep the professor waiting.

Back in the lab, the professor had finally reorganized everything. I handed him Pierces pokeball and he inserted it into a standard looking healing machine. The screen above showed a quick and basic diagnostic for Pierce's health.

"Alright, the baselines all seem in a healthy range for his species. Let me run him through a few more advanced tests."

"Ok." I agreed to trust his judgment.

The professor sent Pierce out. The Kabutops stretched a little before greeting the professor. Prof. Slate pulled a device mounted on a highly poseable arm away from the wall.

"We'll start with x-rays. Also, Pierce would you mind if I put some sheaths over your claws? Just be easier for examination?"

"Bu-tops." Pierce agreed without a second thought.

Prof. Slate grabbed some large tubes of foam with he had Pierce sink his claws into.

" Normally I use much smaller pieces just to cap off horns and such, but this will do fine. Are they comfortable enough Pierce?"

"Ka, ka bu." Pierce tried to adjust them a little so they didn't interfere with his wrists.

I helped move them down before we proceeded with the x-rays. Prof. Slate set up the rest of the equipment and we both stepped aside to prevent unnecessary exposure. The x-rays began to display on the medical diagnostics screen.

"Alright, nothing abnormal here… that's fine… oh, my…"

"What is it?"

"That scar on his head. There's clear deformity on the skull plate. I'm not sure it's problematic, but he'll have that mark for the rest of his life. The injury that caused it is healed, but not perfectly repaired. We'll make sure to keep track of it. Otherwise, it seems that even if this did involve a radiation or wavelength that forced the evolution that Pierce's body dealt with the stress amazingly well. I doubt that's the usual occurrence if the history of that machine is correct."

"Hear that Pierce you're making medical history."

"Buta buta." He chuckled crossing his arms.

"As far as I can tell off these he's just fine. I'll take some samples and check them as well, but we won't be able to know the results for some time. Pierce if you'd find a comfortable position I'll begin drawing those." The professor said carrying over some testing supplies.

After the samples were taken I returned Pierce to his pokeball.

"So overall he seems fine right?" I said making sure I had followed everything.

"Yes, he's surprisingly healthy considering the description of the injury you gave in the report. I'd have expected him to have at least some head pains or damage near his epiphyseal plates. I'm not even sure he evolved because of that machine. I think he evolved because he had a damn good reason to. I appreciate your concern for his health, but if you've even heard of Occam's razor then you'd know it's usually good to assume the simplest answer in right. Pierce evolved to protect you." The professor was very matter of fact spelling this out as though I should have already known.

"It was just all really convenient. It felt weird that it happened at such a perfect time. Ya know?"

"Pokemon all will evolve at different times and for different reasons. Pierce evolved, by my guess, because he had found a bond so strong that he was willing to die for it. That amount of love you have for your Pokemon gave him the strength he needed to undergo the transformation. Yes, some of your Pokemon will evolve when they just feel ready. Some will need an extreme stressor. Others will never evolve. Not everything is a science, even when people try to make it one." Had a fond, but distant look to him as he spoke.

"Well, if he's fine then I've gotta get out for training. Mike said Cobalt could help me. Have you seen him?"

"He'll likely be on the roof. Usually where he and Aeron spend time." The professor told me.

"Alright, thanks, Prof. Slate, see ya some other time," I told him heading off towards the stairs.

Just as the professor had said Aeron, Cobalt, and all of Cobalt's brothers were hanging around on the roof near a habitat for Mike's Pokemon.

"Aer aeroda." Aeron greeted me seeing me coming up the stairs.

"Hey, guys." I patted Aeron on the muzzle while waving to the others.

"So any of you guys feel like helping me with a bit of training?" I asked them.

"Mehta meh!" Cobalt was the first to offer.

"Alright, So here's the plan," I said getting in close to explain the training.

I assembled my team outside a fair ways from the lab so we had open space on all sides. This was gonna be about teamwork and what the team brought to the table not using anything from the outside. That and I doubt the professor would appreciate me busting his house.

"Alright, guys. I was thinking about the combos, and honestly what we did back when isn't gonna work now. We have to be able to change at any moment. Adapt to anything, and that goes for me too. I'm your second senses, but I need you all to be on top and ready to switch at a moment's notice to new plans. This isn't something we accomplish in one day. It won't be tomorrow or even next week. This is how we improve every day from now on."

"Gro! Go goro!" Yanso rallied my Pokemon in a battle cry.

"Alright, Meteor strike!" I yelled throwing a pokeball into the air

All of my Pokemon looked at me in a moment of confusion. Cobalt, Mike's Metang, burst out of the pokeball. He rushed my entire team trying to knock them all down in one big hit. Yanso and Lucas barely jumped out of the way grabbing Nort and Baroness as well. Rath and Pierce both braced for impact, but just before Cobalt made contact Tex met him head-on. The two metal Pokemon crashed with such force that both were thrown back.

"Raair raiir!" Tex roared with laughter.

"Meta meta." Cobalt replied in kind seeing his old sparring partner.

"Cobalt don't forget you're being a big scary feral Pokemon." I reminded him as I was running over to be behind my team.

"Met ta meh." he raised his massive arms to shrug before glaring at us and letting out a horrible screech like metal that was being ripped apart.

I winced at the high pitched noise and so did my Pokemon. Taking advantage of the moment Cobalt formed two massive orbs of light between his silver claws. He lobbed them toward Lucas and Baroness who were still reeling from the sound. The orbs exploded like flashbangs on impact. I shielded my eyes blocking out the light and the battlefield.

"B-Buiiiiiiiuui!" I heard Baroness scream terrified

When the light faded I saw Cobalt had grabbed Baroness and carried her up into the air. Lucas was entirely blinded and fumbling around to even figure out where the ground was. The rest of my team had recovered but had no clue how to get Baroness down safely. Now this was what we needed.

"Pierce, hydro pump, Nort freeze it, Yanso engage!" I put together a plan as fast as I could.

Falling in quickly, Pierce began firing off a massive stream of water. Cobalt was largely unaffected by it deflecting the blast with his spare hand. When Nort began to freeze the blast Yanso quickly began running up the ice. Pierce was only able to hold the ice up for a moment, but that wasn't all Yanso needed. He dashed to the top jumping onto Cobalt's back just as the ice fell and shattered.

"Meeeeeh?" Cobalt wailed shocked.

"Yanso, Force him down." I shouted to my partner, "Everyone else circle up to surround 'im."

Yanso began pounding on Cobalts back trying to force him down. Having an entirely metal body negated almost everything Yanso threw at him.

"Yanso gotta throw some weight around," I shouted up to him.

Yanso switched up from his attacks to flinging himself around Cobalt. His hands and feet had pads that let him climb on almost anything, so he used those to grab onto different spots and throw Cobalt off balance. He'd jump into the air and grab onto Cobalt's arm to pull him down on that side then swing over to the other side to keep him disoriented.

"Baroness you too!" I shouted.

My trapped Buizel began wriggling trying to free herself, but she wasn't nearly strong enough. Then in a moment, there was a flash of glee on her face as she made a big smile. She sucked in all the air she could before blasting a torrent of water out of her mouth. The force being on one side of Cobalt's body made him begin to spin like a top. Yanso stuck fast to Cobalt's underside while Baroness kept the water coming.

"Meheaeaaaaaaa!" Cobalt began to cry.

He was spinning out of control and couldn't keep himself in the air and started to plummet towards the ground. Baroness stopped her attack making Cobalt slow down, but he was still spinning as he fell.

"Yanso get Baroness, time to go!" I yelled loud as I could.

Yanso stayed where he was. Could he hear me with the air rushing by?

"Yanso!" I yelled again trying to be louder.

Then almost faster than I could see it Yanso bolted sideways. Cobalt slammed into the ground just a moment later, but Baroness wasn't in his grasp anymore. Yanso landed on top of Cobalt sticking the landing with Baroness in his arms.

"Show off." I chuckled.

"Grovyle! Gro go grovyle." He said defiantly defending his success.

"I guess I can't argue with results."

"Mmmmhmhmhmm!" Cobalt grumbled into the dirt before forcing himself free and throwing Yanso off his back.

"Metan!" He roared ready to go again.

Part of me wanted to call it here, but the bigger threats out there could take a worse beating than Cobalt.

"Tex, get him back down!" I ordered now certain we weren't done until Cobalt gave in.

Tex came charging at Tex who had only just gotten a foot off the ground. Rearing up just before he collided into Cobalt, Tex slammed his front four legs down on Cobalt's back crushing him into the ground again.

"Nort, blind'em. Rath heat it up." I starting calling my other Pokemon in.

Nort began throwing up dirt into Cobalt's eyes. Soon his entire face was caked with mud. Rath would start doing the real damage though. Tex reared up again and slammed down on Cobalt one more time before clearing out for Rath to do his job. Flames began to build up in Rath's maw before a gout of fire consumed Cobalt. I could only barely see the silhouette of Cobalt inside the fire. He wasn't even trying to get out of it.

"Rath… Rath that's enough." I called him off.

Cobalt wasn't moving and his entire body was glowing from the heat.

"Cobalt?" I asked slightly worried we had gone a step too far.

There was this low rumbling sound. Suddenly the dirt on his face was vaporized as two beams of energy blasted from his eyes. Nort, who was still in front of him was hit by both and blown back. Cobalt pushed himself up, turned towards Rath, and launched himself towards my houndour. Tex came charging in again and crashed into Cobalt just as Cobalt landed a right hook on Rath. All three went tumbling to the side landing in a big pile. Cobalt got up again and threw Tex off him. Rath raggedly stood up swaying uneasily on his feet. Cobalt raised one of his massive arms ready to bring it down on Rath. Quick as I could, I pulled out Rath's pokeball and returned him. Cobalt's arm slamming down through the red light instead of Rath's physical form. I let my houndour back out next to me.

"Like I said, I'm in this too." I smiled having managed to pull off the trick.

Rath looked up at me and nodded before sitting down to say he was still done.

"Alright, guys we can still do this," I shouted to rally my last few Pokemon. "Plasum special attacks, Yanso interference, Pierce and Baroness cover fire. Everyone together!"

"Gro goro!"

"Haun Ta!" Yanso and Plasum shouted together as they rushed Cobalt.

Cobalt began charging another hyper beam, but before he could fire it off Pierce and Baroness both blasted his face with water making him lose sight of his targets. Yanso jumped up onto Cobalt's back while Plasum sunk into the ground. Cobalt fired off his attack, but the lasers went straight out into nothing. Yanso leaned down into Cobalt's face and grinned deviously.

"Gro vy!" Yanso laughed with devilish glee.

"Meeht!" Cobalt roar attempting to swipe at Yanso.

Yanso back peddled and dodged the swing. He continued to taunt Cobalt as he danced around on the Metang's back. To lithe and too fast Yanso sprung around narrowly slipping by Cobalt's strikes. With all his focus above he never saw Plasum coming. Erupting from the ground with two fists wrapped in a shadowy aura Plasum began throwing a barrage of rapid punches to Cobalt's belly. Plasum's hands were black blurs as he hammered away at Cobalt. With a final mighty one-two punch, Plasum sent Cobalt skyward. Yanso leaped off just in time, but Plasum followed his target. Grabbing him in the air Plasum held Cobalt by the head forcing the Metang to look up at him.

"HAAAAUN!" Plasum began to roar and ghastly energy spilled from his massive mouth, "TA!"

The energy suddenly coalesced into a sphere that fired off right into Cobalt's face. The blast sent him rocketing into the ground. On impact, dirt was sent flying and a crater formed. Lying in its center was an unconscious Metang.

"Wooooo!" I shouted punching the air, "Fucking beautiful."

Plasum began to dance victoriously over Cobalt shaking his point fingers while swaying to side. The others were wiping the sweat off their brows and catching their breaths. But despite the exhaustion, I saw smiles on every last one of them. Even Yanso had a snarky looking grin. I went and checked on Cobalt who came to after a bit of prodding. I stored him in his pokeball and gathered up my team.

"That was amazing guys. If this is what becomes our standard or better yet our start then we're set. I don't expect us to become legends in a day. This is about us being ready to give this whenever we need it. Now, who's ready for lunch?" I couldn't even stop grinning as I spoke.


	6. Chap 6: Stalling

"I worked the caravans for years. I've seen all our towns and all our villages. People ask if I get homesick. I did when I started, but I realized this whole world is my home." Tyler Apel reassuring new caravan members.

The next morning rolled around a bit sooner than I wanted it to, but I got up none the less and got ready for the day. Alice was off today, so her house was my first stop. As soon as I finished breakfast and got dressed I headed out the door.

While I lived out in a little cabin, Alice still lived with her parents in the actual town. Her dad, Shane, was a hell of a Ranger, though he was retired now, and had gotten his family a nice moderately sized house near the town center. I arrived and knocked on the door with the same pattern Alice used. I was greeted by her mother, MariyAnn.

"Good morning Mrs. Maez." I smiled awkwardly seeing it wasn't Alice.

"Good morning Jaklo. I'll tell Alice you're here. Come on in. Take a seat." She laughed slightly at my sheepishness.

Directly inside was the living room. was sitting there reading a tablet. I instinctively saluted to him before shaking his hand,

"Good morning Plr. Maez." I said sitting down on the couch.

"Any quiet morning is a good morning. How's the southern front?" He said setting the tablet aside.

"Nothing to report really. Might have seen a sentret footprint, but nothing out of the ordinary for certain." I told him biting my lip as I thought about my walk over here.

Plr. Maez was about to say something else, but Alice cut him off.

"You two can trade war stories some other time. This is my only day off this week. Come on Jaklo."

She had come in dressed in a turtleneck sweater, jeans, and some knee-high boots.

"Who'd of guessed the daughter of a drill sergeant would be bossy." I quietly told Plr. Maez.

I laughed. He laughed. Alice glared at us until we quieted down.

"Sorry…" I mumbled not actually sorry.

"Have a good day." Plr. Maez said.

"Alice, are you going to be home tonight?" Her mother asked having come back into the living room.

She looked at me and I shrugged.

"Let's go with no." Alice decided.

I held up my hands to show innocence. Alice grabbed one and we headed out the door.

"Remind me why do you still live at home?" I asked as we started walking towards the main market.

"Because my parents are weird. I'm allowed to be an adult in every way. I'm allowed to fight monsters for a living. The responsibility of having my own house is too much though." She groaned before looking over to me for a response.

"Don't look at me. You know my family history. Things got real weird between my grampa and dad on the whole ranger subject." I shrugged holding my hands up.

"How are your mom and dad anyway?" Alice asked tilting her head in thought.

"Haven't seen them since spring started they're pretty much going nuts trying to make sure everything is perfect on each and every tree. And I wonder why I worry about everything so much." I almost laughed, but it turned into a sigh.

"Well, no worries today," Alice told me quite sternly as she took my hand in hers.

"Don't tell that to me. Tell the rest of the world." I scoffed.

Friday was by far the busiest day in town. It was market day. Every local shop had their own hours, but most of the actual artisan goods were open only on Fridays. As well this was the day that the NARU caravans would come into town. We were self-sustaining, but there were a lot of things we couldn't make here. I had considered signing up for caravan duty when I was younger, but the idea of being far from home for that long stopped that idea.

"So where are we gonna start?" I asked Alice as she seemed to already have planned everything for today.

"I was thinking we'd just do the whole loop and stop at whatever looked interesting."

"So long as we stop by the caravan," I replied not too concerned.

When we reached the market area of town, halfway between the inner ring of town and the outer ring, we found it bustling. We decided we'd do the inner side of the stores first since they did the smaller more common goods. Business was always a strange part of life here. We had to make everything we needed, but no one felt like going back to the stone age for the sake of simplicity. The majority of shops made different kinds of clothing. Some were more focused on function and others about fashion. It was definitely a business that could straddle the line between need and want. That was usually how business was defined here. Some people made necessary goods like tools or pots and pans, while others focused on less important things like toys and jewelry. We were strict about resource use, but that didn't mean we took a vow of poverty.

Alice picked the first shop pulling me towards a stall with different types of jewelry. I looked at it absently. I wasn't big on jewelry really, but my mother's birthday was in a month, so keeping an eye out didn't hurt. Alice picked up some dangly earrings with turquoise crystals that matched her sweater.

"What do you think?" She asked me as if I would have any good input.

"They match your sweater nicely," I responded doing my best to say something that actually meant something.

Alice bought them and put them on. We moved on and that was generally how things went. We strolled along seeing what people had produced. I stopped into one of the tailors and checked on an order I had placed for a new rain jacket. Most things were produced on a person by person basis. The things for sale normally were generic things anyone could use.

Our next stop was the caravan. There was one large truck and a lot of pack Pokemon, people, and Rangers. The truck was essentially a land train and had two trailers. One trailer that folded one wall down to make a big stage to set up stalls on while the goods were still stored in the trailer space. The other was a gunnery platform with a mounted turret and space for armed Rangers. Everyone else traveled in the smaller convoy vehicles with trailers for tents and traveling supplies or on Pokemon.

There were Rangers in various colored uniforms indicating where they were from. I saw Rangers from Letchworth in our forest green and shale gray, Nada in the far southwest wore orange and tan, Pasore had on a pale yellow and brown uniform. Different Rangers traded in and out as the caravan moved along while the goods could still be from all the NARU towns.

The stalls were a bit too crowded right now, so we went over to where the pack Pokemon were rounded up in a little impromptu corral. Two Pasore Rangers in wide-brimmed hats were watching over them. One was big and built, but the other while average had two gleaming revolvers at his side.

"How's it going gentlemen? Jaklo Wight, Gold rank." I introduced myself extending my hand being all professional about, "This is my partner Alice."

Alice did a little salute. One after the other the visiting Rangers shook my hand.

"Howdy Ranger. I'm Kurt, silver rank." Responded the tall one.

"Name's Mack, silver as well, but I'm up for promotion when I get back home." The gunner introduced himself.

"Have any trouble on your way here?" Alice asked, "The terrain can get pretty swampy in the spring."

"I wouldn't say we did." Kurt considered scratching the stubble around his chin.

"Honestly I much prefer working up here. Critters seem a lot smaller than back west." Mack huffed clearly having seen some shit in his time.

"Trust me they can get pretty huge. Even then the little ones tend to be just as powerful. We dealt with an unidentified ice Pokemon at the start of the week. Thing was a foot or two tall and was giving both of us trouble." I told them groaning my bones still feeling cold from that fight.

"Unidentified? That's an eerie though. Where do you think it came from?" Mack shuddered.

"Probably moved from much farther north during the winter. We had a really bad blizzard in the winter so it likely was just fine being this far south. I've seen plenty of Pokemon migrate through the rivers when the temperature changes, so with how drastic the weather was here I could see a Pokemon moving in and not even knowing they were so far from home." Alice did her best to try and explain it to the other Ranger.

"Pasore monitors a ton of yearly migrations. We get hundreds of species moving all over the greater and lesser plains. I mean birds alone we seen over a hundred kinds." Mack said pulling a pokeball out of a little pouch on the side of his belt.

It was completely plain save for one bump on the top. He tossed it in the air and a Noctowl appeared in the air. It was entirely snow white with specks of black and didn't have the large facial features like Lucas.

"Nooc tooc." It hooted landing next to Mack.

"Meet Swifi. She's my partner." Mack told us gesturing to the Noctowl.

"Ello beautiful. She has amazing feathers. I'd swear she was wearing winter camouflage." I said punctuating the comment with a whistle.

I pulled out Lucas' pokeball and sent him out. He craned his neck confused by the other Noctowl that he didn't know.

"To Wrrrrooo" He introduced himself to Swifi.

"This is Lucas. I've been training him for over a decade now. Interesting how they can be the same species and have such different attributes." I said understanding exactly why Prof. Slate was fascinated with Pokemon adaptations.

"Nature is far more powerful than any of us. We shouldn't be surprised something like this could happen." Kurt said sounding almost philosophical, "At least that's what my pappy used to say."

"Well enjoy your time here. Semper Vigilus, Rangers." I said before saluting them with the traditional two crossed fingers.

The caravan stalls were still rather busy, but it looked a bit better. They'd be swarmed every day they were here though, so we just grinned and bared it. A lot of the goods traded were raw materials or for the town cotton, certain metals, medicines, but some artisan goods always were moved around. I found an interesting pair of pants that were baggy enough to fit both legs in one pant leg. The trader explained they were worn in Nada to help keep cool while still covering your legs from the environment. Letchworth would probably never get hot enough that I'd need them so I put them back and kept looking. The majority of the crowd was around one booth. When I finally got over there I understood why. There were multiple paintings all of Nada's rainbow mesas. Travel just wasn't a possibility for most normal people, so having such beautiful art was a big draw.

I considered it, but knew it wasn't worth the money for myself. Maybe, if there were any left, I'd see about getting one for Tyler. He hadn't been out west in over a decade something like this might be a nice present. I left that booth for now and started looking through the crowd for my girlfriend. Alice was happily digging through an assortment of clothes when I found her.

"More clothes?" I asked.

"There is nothing wrong with some variety." Alice said cheerily.

"Just don't go overboard again." I said quietly looking at the tank top she had just added to the clothes draped over her arm.

The stall was all second-hand clothes. Everything was worthwhile until it was a pile of dust and even then we'd probably find a use for the dust. I looked through the stacks, but once again didn't find anything really interesting. I had a fairly bland wardrobe, and I liked it that way. Everything was comfortable and functional.

"Well, when you're done I think there were some more general good stalls around that way," I told her with a bit of a yawn.

"You can't already be tired," Alice said looking at me slightly concerned.

"What? No no. Just… heh… bit of a late night." I chuckled thinking about that bizarre hike I had taken.

"You always have late nights." Alice reminded me.

"Well, this was something a bit different. I'm fii-iiiiiine." As much as I felt ok I couldn't help but yawn again as I spoke.

"Ok, then we'll go get lunch after this then. Any thoughts on where to eat?" She asked trying to stop a grin.

I considered the options. There were three places that served prepared food, The Lounge which was really a bar and social hall above all else, the MacArthurs had a restaurant attached to their grocery store, and there were the farm carts, the Keiver family would cook food and sell it to the farmers around the outskirts of town from a couple of carts. I knew we wanted to go to the bar tonight so that was out, and while the farm carts had good food it was really "grab and go" but we didn't have anywhere to go right now.

"MacArthurs is never a bad choice," I said passively not wanting to refuse the other two options.

"Sounds good. You're a good cook, but they have you beat in variety." Alice said as she finished paying the booth tender.

The last few general good stands weren't too interesting. I did find a small stand tucked away selling various polished stones and minerals. At first, I didn't think much of them, but I was drawn to a green shaped diamond stone.

"Is this an emerald?" I asked holding it up to the light.

"I can't quite say. It was found like that so it's possible it was a piece of jewelry at some point." The shopkeeper said.

"What the heck, I may as well. If nothing else hang it in front of my window make a nice suncatcher." I gave in for some reason.

I pocketed the gem and paid the merchant.

"Pretty rock. Gonna put it on a ring?" Alice joked with a sly grin.

"No." I shot down the thought quickly, "I just think it looked interesting. The man said it was found cut this way, and I think that's kinda cool."

"And you think buying clothes is excessive." Alice scoffed.

"I enjoy my curiosities." I smiled holding the gem up to the sky.

"You say curios. I say junk." Alice rolled her eyes.

As we walked I was looking up at the gem. There was something in the middle. It looked like a little leaf.

"Jaklo?" Alice poked me in the shoulder before looking up into the gem, "So there's a leaf. Probably something synthesized in the old world."

"But that's cool!" I told her not understanding why she had to kill the moment.

"You are such a nerd." Alice sighed shaking her head fondly.

"And proud of it," I replied with a firm nod.

"Then don't judge me when I buy clothes, and I won't judge you and your chest of sticks and metal junk."

"It's not junk. It's a piece of the past. We don't make things like this anymore. It's physical history."

"So the collection of carved walking sticks you made? The ones you just hang on the wall and never use. Those are history?"

"No those are just cool. They look awesome."

"And how is that different from the clothes I buy?"

"I… At least I make my own," I grumbled finding myself in a corner.

"Well maybe I'll start sowing. My mom's happy to see me do anything that keeps me away from Ranger work."

"Might help off put your spending sprees," I said quietly, but still to her.

"I don't do those nearly as often…" Alice trailed off no longer looking at me.

"Sorry. You've been doing tons better than I have. I really have no room to judge." I sighed apologizing.

"No, you don't, but there is a point to it. Let's just go eat."

We headed for MacArthurs'. It was fairly busy, but that was just how market days were. Only busier days were holidays. We seated ourselves in a booth tucked away in a corner. That last conversation had left us in an awkward silence. One of the waiters came up and handed us a single menu.

"It's Friday. I already know I'm having the fish fry." I said giving the menu to Alice.

"I'll have half his fish and a salad," Alice said returning the menu.

"At least you admit to it." I chuckled at her order.

The waiter left us to go place the order. I smiled and shrugged at Alice.

"Finally ran out of quips and sarcasm." I held up my hands in defeat, "Guess we'll have to talk like well-adjusted adults."

"That sounds nice. You're back on duty Sunday right?" Alice asked propping her head up on both hands.

"Yeah. Paul has some… well, he wants to send me up to the dam. I've agreed, so I'm going up there solo." I said feeling a bit guilty for not mentioning it sooner.

"Solo? I don't think that's a good idea. Paul didn't assign anyone else to go with you?" Alice was concerned in tone, but she looked suspicious of what I had said.

"He said I could bring some if I needed them, but I really don't know why I would. The dam isn't that far away and the ruins are a solid distance away from it. It's just a little recon."

"Taking backup isn't a bad thing. Promise me you'll bring Hal or Kip. Even if you make them just sit around outside the facility. I'd prefer someone else is keeping an eye on you."

"Come on that's what my Pokemon are for."

"No, your Pokemon are for the front. So help me, Wight, if you don't do this I will follow you personally."

"Fine. I'll bring Kip, but he's literally just gonna set up camp and wait."

"That's all I'm asking," Alice said with a smug smile and nod.

"You making me earn tonight aren't you?"

"And what would you do if I were?"

I sat stumped not really able to come up with a good answer. Luckily our food arrived and all conversation was delayed. I tore through my fish until happily full. Alice slowly nibbled away at her salad and the piece of fish she took from me.

"So is there really any point to doing the outer ring of shops? I mean there's nothing we really use." I said a little bit bored.

"Not if you really don't want to. You getting tired?"

"Just not interested in shopping really."

"Well, then what are we gonna do in the meantime?"

"Let's go to the ranch."

"Ok, but let me drop my stuff off at home first."

"Fine by me."

We did as agreed and headed for the ranch. I felt much better just being away from town. I loved my home, but there was a claustrophobia to the rows of houses and buildings. I pointed out a cluster of trees suggesting we sit down there.

"Now this is much more how I'd rather spend my day off," I said looking around at the trees.

"I'm just glad it's spent with you," Alice said squeezing my hand.

"Ditto," I replied squeezing her hand in kind.

"Where?" She mocked surprise.

"That's it I'm leaving," I said as I ran for the nearest tree.

I scrambled for a low branch and started pulling myself up going higher and higher.

"You aren't ditching me that easy."

Alice was right behind me clambering up. I sat on a nice sturdy branch waiting for her.

"Come on. Tex is faster than you."

"Just remember this next time we go swimming," Alice warned as she strained to reach for another branch.

I chuckled reaching down to give her a hand. She took it and was able to get up to a nearby branch to sit. I took a deep breath and relaxed.

"I swear I've been in trees more than I've been on the ground in my life." I sighed happy and content.

My legs swung slightly as I looked up at the sunlight filtering through the leaves like a giant green kaleidoscope. My mind became split between past and present and all the good memories of quiet days. I smiled looking to Alice simply happy with life.

We started talking about junk and nonsense and rambling on about life and the universe. It all seemed fairly pointless, but it was that kind of simple conversation. The fact that we could talk about anything and everything that made it worthwhile. It didn't matter what was going on if we were together we'd spend the time merrily.

"So I'm still not sure how we're going to power the hoverbike, but I have the whole thruster system worked out," I concluded.

"But that's the actual important part."

"Negativity didn't invent space travel and it won't help here."

"Ok ok, but seriously figure out a power source then talk to me about building your own hoverbike."

"I-" I cut myself off raising a hand to block out a light shining into my eyes, "What the- when did the sun get that low?"

"Now," Alice said.

"We should get back to town."

"Prolly."

I helped Alice get down and we headed for home. Alice decided to go back to her place, and that I could pick her up at sunset. By my best guess that was half an hour or so. I went home and cleaned up a bit before putting on some slightly nicer clothes: a polo, some comfortable slacks, and the only nice pair of shoes I owned. When I went to pick up Alice she met me at the door in a cyan dress and heels.

"You're first aid is up to date right because I think my heart stopped."

"Don't make me go change."

"Sorry. You look stunning though."

"I thought you'd like it. Let me grab a coat."

With that, we were off. The lounge was a fairly large building that stuck out in the middle of town. Back when it was a warehouse for the first people in Letchworth. As we moved the forge farther out the warehouse was easier to repurpose than tear down. It was essentially the town gathering hall for a while but became more focused on recreation as time passed and life eased. Things were nice and stable. Compared to the first settlers, so the hall became a lounge and the hub for entertainment and recreation.

As soon as we opened the door the smell of alcohol was strong. While we could produce generous amounts of fresh water alcoholic beverages never lost their place. Everybody in Letchworth drank the only variation was amounts.

"Its market day alright. I hope the theater isn't full already."

The building was divided into four unequal parts: the bar, the theater, the lounge, and the private rooms. We had entered through the bar the largest section. The area was swarmed with people either around the bar or if they were already drunk on the dance floor. We hurried through the crowd to the theater.

We had very little media from the old world, but we did still find it fascinating. Movies and TV that had been brought by early settlers or found by Rangers was all collected here for citizens to watch. Leo, the owner of the lounge, was up at the front of the room.

"Glad to see everyone today. We've got something a bit new. Recently procured by Kip Gander "The Sound of Music"."

"Good for Kip. He basically just got free drinks for a month." I chuckled to Alice.

"Shh. It's starting." Alice told me while staring wide eyes at the projection screen.

I went quiet and looked up at the screen. This film was real old. The whole thing was talking about world war II. A whole four hundred and sixty odd years ago. It showed singing, dancing, and all sorts of nonsense. A nun and a lilligant joined the family of a general and nonsense ensued. Sometimes it was nice to see ridiculous and happy stuff even if it was completely unrelatable. Even the villains at the end were just crazy. Bunch of guys in military gear demanding the general work for them. How is anyone that inept? They let him get away with a song number. If it were roamers they'd have shot the wife and kidnapped the children. The hike over the mountains looked fun at least.

"Ok, maybe he'll get a free round of beer," I told Alice.

"It was a nice movie."

"Not exactly what fills seats here. Remember that one where they shot the guy's lillipup and then he went berserk? Now that filled seats."

"It wasn't bad, but I liked this more. I'd rather have a lovely musical to escape into than a massive murder spree."

"If I could deal with all the problems we have like that guy I think we'd be set here. I wish I could have that skill."

"I'm sure you would. Come on let's get some drinks."

We headed to the bar where I got whiskey and Alice got a cider.

"Why is it that alcohol seems to be the one constant in humanity?" I asked mulling over my drink.

"Well isn't it made by completely forgetting about some sort of plant and water or juice," Alice said looking at hers.

"I dunno I forget." shrugged before taking a swig.

"Case and Point." Alice downed some of her cider.

As the night went on and people left the place began to calm down. Alice and I remained at the bar enjoying a few more drinks and random conversations. With fewer people, the music quieted down. After a while, the only music left was from the piano. When the player began a slow kind of song I grabbed Alice's hand and brought her onto the floor.

"What's this? You hate dancing."

"Well, I'm spontaneous when I'm drunk."

Alice went with it from there resting her head on my shoulder. We swayed along to the music holding each other close. I didn't really have much rhythm, but Alice didn't seem to care.

"Jaklo the music stopped."

"Did it… ok, maybe we should go home." I said still swaying.

"Yeah, we're getting you home."

I wasn't inebriated or anything, but it was getting to me. When we got back to my cabin I got up to my bed and fell into it with a big sigh. Alice nudged me to move over. I slowly inched to the side to make room for her. She lied down next to me putting her lips to my ear.

"Don't tell me you're too tired."

"What if I was?"

"Then go to sleep."

I rolled over and looked at her with sleepy eyes and a tired grin.

"Maybe a little fun first. Really just be with me tonight."


	7. Chap 7: The Best Defense

"At dawn we are ready, at night we still stand, forever defending our motherland." -Ranger Pledge.

The next morning I was up a little early and got dressed. I headed outside looking at the massive forest just beyond my home. Lots of red pines, some oaks, and beech were lined up across my view. They were ancient by our standards. Trees that had been standing since before the city was. Some possibly as older than the nations that built here in the before times. Hundreds of years of storms, climate change, and all the messes people caused and here they were.

"How come they're still here?" I asked quietly.

"Goro." Yanso called, "Goro go."

He had just stepped out of the barn and sat next to me.

"Teamwork? Hmm, good point. I guess a forest is only a forest when the trees are together." I continued to ponder the thought.

"Gro gorovy," Yanso asked what I was doing out here.

"I wanted air. The closer we get the less excited I am about tomorrow. I get more scared. Tomorrow is, for better or worse, the first day of our future. It's up to us to decide what our future will be. If it all goes well I'm gonna propose to Alice."

Yanso scoffed like he'd been expecting that.

"I already know she's amazing. I only need to know if I deserve her."

"Gro. Grovv." He patted my back and grinned.

"Thanks. Last day off, let's make it count." I told him.

I returned him to his pokeball before I headed back inside and found Alice sitting at the table also dressed.

"Morning." She said looking at her tablet.

"Good morning," I replied more chipper than usual.

She raised an eyebrow but smiled at me.

"So last day off. What were we going to do again?" I asked her.

"I'm not sure we figured that out." She set the tablet down.

"If we have no plans I'd be fine with "wasting the day in bed"."

"Jaklo we just woke up." Alice sighed letting her tablet drop on the table so she could give me a look.

"Ok, we won't do that yet." I conceded shrugging my shoulders

"We don't actually have to do anything." Alice reminded me

"I'm fine with that," I said going to start making breakfast.

After we had eaten I sat down next to her and looked at her tablet. It showed a schematic of some sort of big machine. I wasn't super up to date on technology, but I had enough second hand knowledge from Isaac and the professor.

"Is that a turbine?" I said struggling to remember.

"Yes. The dam has a few low power ones that Paul has me looking into. You're not the only one working on that project."

"Yeah, that reminds me I should call Kip about going with me."

"You can go do that now. Before you forget."

I wasn't going to argue so I stepped outside and called him on my walkie.

"Kip Gander, please respond," I said plainly

"This is Kip. Roger." He replied with his usual curt tone

"This is Jaklo. Tomorrow 0600 I need you to report to the armory and ready room. I have a new set of orders for you. You'll be assisting me on a recon and clear mission to the Mt. Morris dam."

"Yes, sir. Roger." Kip responded formally as ever.

"Good. We'll be heading pretty far out. Be in top condition tomorrow. Over and out." I signed off and headed back in.

I sat down and leaned my seat back against the wall. Tomorrow was gonna be a hell of a day. I had done a lot to get ready, but I couldn't shake the anxiety around it. Even if I had a team of all legendary Pokemon and tank for myself I'd be worried. It wasn't about if we made it out of there. We could always run. It was about if we could make a stand.

"I wonder if Kip might finally get his promotion off this mission." I offhandedly mentioned thinking about the risks we'd be taking on.

"It's possible. He's been a Ranger for what seven years now?" Alice tried to recall.

"He's only two or so years younger than me. We both were in bronze and silver together even if he came later. He definitely should be up for it." I said doing the math on my fingers.

"He deserves it." Alice agreed

"The guy deserves a medal just for not going crazy." I huffed knowing well what he'd gone through.

"Certainly gives us no room to complain." Alice sighed.

She grabbed my hand and we just sat there in the quiet. Nobody goes through life without losing something. We didn't lose equally though. Some of us at least had others to cling to.

"Alright, we can have terribly depressing thoughts tomorrow," I said taking a deep breath and refocusing.

"You focus tomorrow. I'll worry enough for both of us." Alice said half smiling and squeezing my hand.

"Speaking of which. What do you have tomorrow?" I asked realizing we had spent all this time worrying about me.

"Nothing special. Patrols and anything that happens. The usual nonsense." Alice shrugged.

"I feel like I should probably use today to prep thinking about it. I should check my equipment and all that." I muttered realizing just how much I hadn't done yet.

"I do wish I could steal you away for the day, but you have a point." Alice sighed letting my hand go.

"I'll see you for dinner." I kissed her cheek and went to go grab my Ranger uniform.

It was still my day off, but if I was gonna be doing all this it just felt right to wear it. We shared one more kiss before I headed off into town.

I headed down to HQ and went about selecting equipment from the armory. I selected my usual shotgun and body armor vest, but I also started to consider what might be good for the dam specifically. It was a tall structure so rope seemed reasonable. Some extra pokeballs and steel balls would make sense. Dragon's Breath rounds were always a good last resort. I selected a few other tools just incase as well. Just as I was signing everything out with the acting quartermaster my name came over the Radio.

"Jaklo, this is Tyler. Could you report to the Ranch? I need your assistance." Tyler's voice was distinct ever over the radio.

"Everything alright?" I asked wondering what required me in person.

"Nothing too serious, but there was a glitch in the PC system, and your file leave. We just need you to refill in your information." Tyler explained sounding, bored.

"Oh, boy paperwork on my day off. I'll be right over." I fake laughed, but got over myself and signed out.

I trudged over to the ranch; With luck, I'd get everything done quickly and just get to go home. When I arrived Tyler was waiting outside casually sitting on the back of his Torterra, Atlas. I waved to them, and Tyler waved back. Atlas began to stomp over towards me. Even though I knew he was harmless having a Pokemon larger than my house coming towards me put just a little fear in my head.

"Atlas can you backup a step," I asked very confused why he was getting so close.

"Don't mind him, he's just excited today." Tyler chuckled.

"What for?" I asked

"Jaklo, do you remember what we discussed a few days ago?"

"We discussed a lot of things."

"Well, you brought up training, and there's never a bad time for training, so I thought Atlas and I might join you for some," Tyler said with a grin, but it quickly faded as he went from my teacher to my foe.

Yanso burst out of his pokeball and stood beside me. He had a maniacal grin as he bounced on his toes at the prospect of a fight. I, however, was less hyped for this shitshow.

"Atlas, earthquake," Tyler called with a terrifyingly emotionless tone.

"Ah fuck." I groaned.

I was basically frozen watching as the torterra reared up on its hind legs. It slammed down sending all of its energy into the ground. A massive shockwave emanated from him tearing up the ground, throwing me off my feet, and making fissures appear in the earth. Yanso landed with perfect poise next to me. He grinned cracking his knuckles and laughed.

"Quit showing off and counter-attack," I ordered

"Ro ro." Yanso laughed.

Yanso flicked his wrists and his arm leaves became like blades. He dashed forward before jumping onto Atlas' back. In a flurry of slashes, Yanso sliced at Atlas' shell, but it didn't even leave a mark.

"Ro?" Yanso gasped seeing Atlas' shell unscathed.

"Tera." Atlas let out a low laugh before bucking Yanso off.

"Come on now you two. What was that supposed to be? This is how an attack works." Tyler shouted as he swung his arm across his body.

Atlas charged towards Yanso then stomped his front feet down hard. He skidded and turned so that the massive tree on his back bent out and smacked Yanso far out into the ranch.

"Yanso!" I yelled sprinting after him.

I found yanso lying in a rut that he had made on impact. He had a big bruise forming on his right shoulder from the hit. Just one hit and he was already taking injury. Another hit like that could easily shatter his bones.

"Yanso? Buddy talk to me." I begged while making him sit up against me.

"Gro? Goooooooo." He mumbled complete nonsense.

"Come on Yanso. Snap out of it."

Yanso took a deep breath and shook his head. He groaned as he stood up, but stayed standing.

"Gro go gro?" He looked at me for ideas.

"It's Tyler. He taught me all my tricks. We could… no… what if… we do what he taught us not to?" I threw out the only, and there by best, idea I had.

"Gro." Yanso evilly grinned and nodded at the prospect.

"Don't tell me you two are already done," Tyler said coming up behind us.

"Us? Never." I grinned spinning on my heels.

I lunged toward Atlas. Using his head as a step I made two jumps to get up onto his back. I pulled the knife I kept in my boot and dragged it along his back as I ran to the other side. It ignored Atlas's aura resistances and scraped along his earthen shell. It wouldn't do any real damage with his thick shell, but since he had feeling throughout it the long thin scratch would hopefully be like the world's largest paper cut.

Atlas hissed and began trying to shake me off. I grabbed onto his tree and shouted for Yanso. I heard explosions go off rapidly one after the other then Atlas stopped shaking. I turned to look, one hand still tentatively holding onto the tree. Yanso had made a massive dust cloud, I assume, by throwing seed bombs at the dirt in front of Atlas. I jumped off Atlas and started running.

"Yanso, Plan A!" I shouted.

"Gro go!" He shouted back agreeing to the plan.

I sprinted as fast as I could into the Ranch building. The ranger currently at the desk gave me a confused look then glanced back over at the window, through which you could see Yanso giving Atlas the middle finger with both hands.

"Eh heh… I just need to make a call." I said grabbing my radio.

"Hey uh, Alice…" I said in a panic having set my radio to the gold frequency

"Yeah," She replied nonchalantly.

"Can you come to the ranch? Preferably with Sholt, and Aggy, and like everyone." I asked my voice a bit shaky and worried even while I tried to hide my panic.

"Tyler giving you a hard time?" Alice stifled a laugh.

"Seriously you're in on this too?" I moaned.

"No, but he did say that I'm not allowed to come. What's he actually got you doing?"

"Uh well at the moment Atlas is trying to trample Yanso…" It was at that moment that Atlas charged down Yanso going from standing still to stampeding in a second, "Er trampled Yanso. Fuck. Sorry love ya gotta go bye." I said snapping my radio back down to my belt.

I ran back outside. Yanso was just getting back up having being literally stomped into the ground while I was inside. He kept a cocky grin on his face despite the fact that he was battered and bruised all over. Tyler and Atlas were just standing there waiting for our next pointless attempt.

"This is stupid. We can't even scratch him. He's stronger offensively and defensively. Hell, he's even pretty fast for his size." I grumbled trying to figure out why Tyler decided to frustrate me like this.

"Perhaps you two should concede." Tyler suggested leaning on Atlas, "Especially if that scratch is the best you have."

My best was a whole team of Pokemon and people. It wasn't just me and Yanso. Despite that, I wasn't allowed to call in Alice and my in case at home. What was Tyler getting out of stacking the odds? He already had me beat in every aspect. Except maybe his health, but I doubt I'd get away with beating my superior officer into submission.

"Is that all this is about? Teaching me when to quit?" I asked with a heavy sigh.

I already knew how to quit. At least I knew good reasons to. I also knew a lot of reason never to.

"You have to be up ready for action at any time. Sometimes you go in blind. So this is about what you can do right here and now." Tyler said knowing full well this situation was beyond normal.

"This only ends if I quit or I win right?" I asked looking forlornly off over the ranch.

"I'd say those are good conditions." Tyler agreed.

"Then I guess I'm getting some cardio out of this." I sighed before making a mad dash for the ranch fence.

"Gro? Go gro!" Yanso was shocked and shouted at me for not telling him what was going on.

Yanso had quickly caught up and was running beside me. I pointed towards the same cluster of trees that I had been hanging around with Alice at. We stopped and caught our breath in the tiny grove.

"Gro go?" Yanso asked for the plan.

"Right now? Stalling mostly. Still not sure what can stop Atlas…"

Yanso huffed and shook his head. This was never something we had planned for. Were we seriously expected to be able to make a plan on the spot to fight the strongest Ranger and his Pokemon in town? Compared to us Atlas was a legendary Pokemon. Maybe my entire team working together perfectly could face him. Plasum, Nort, and Baroness all knew ice type moves that would be super effective on Atlas. I sighed wishing I had any more of them with me. Heck any more help would be great, but my entire team was at home for now. Was I supposed to go catch a whole new team out here?

"I could get a whole new team out here…" I muttered to myself having a moment of realization.

"Yanso, you trust me right?"

"Gro." Yanso nodded firmly.

"Then run away. Find every Pokemon on the ranch that you can and bring them back here." I told him.

"Gro, go go gro?" He asked what I'd do.

"Probably make a new walking stick." I chuckled, "Go. I can stall them."

Yanso took a deep breath and nodded before running out the opposite side of the grove.

"Alright, Wight. Time to attack your commanding officer. Great plan." I muttered to myself.

I climbed one of the nearby trees and broke off a reasonably sized branch about two inches thick tapering down to one inch thick. I snapped off the twigs and tried to smooth it out best I could with my knife. I could hear Atlas stomping towards me. I gritted my teeth as I gripped the makeshift staff. Atlas was very close by the sound of it when the footfalls stopped. I mustered my courage and shouted to them.

"Well, thanks a lot, Tyler. Ya couldn't tell Atlas to hold back even a little? I'm almost certain Yanso's leg has a fracture in it now."

"If he has a fracture you should have conceded and taken him to HQ. Let me come take a look." Tyler sighed.

From my perch in the tree, I watched him walk into the grove. He began looking around for us, so I took the last chance I had and jumped down behind him. Still gripping the staff punched him in the back with both hands. It came across as more of push, but I wasn't really trying to hurt him. He stumbled forward some, but caught himself and stood tall.

"Jaklo, this is not a fight you want to start," Tyler said without even turning to face me.

I could see him tensing up. He was ready to turn and strike at any moment.

"You're right. It's one I'm gonna end." I tried to sound confident even if I was off-put by Tyler's tone.

Tyler took a deep breath and then whipped around snatching the top of my staff with one hand and pushing it to the side while he made a palm strike against my forehead with the other. I reeled backward and felt the staff slip from my grasp. When I steadied myself Tyler was leaning on the staff like an old wizard.

"You want to fight a grass elementalist with a branch?" Tyler asked looking over at the weapon.

"I'm fighting everything else these days. May as well." I shrugged.

"Some fights aren't worth it." Tyler shook his head.

Suddenly Tyler lunged at me thrusting the staff forward. I tried to lean out of the way, but he did manage to clip my side. My ranger uniform would stop cuts, but the impact went right through. I grabbed the stick with my left hand and went for a hammer fist to Tyler's chest with my right. He caught my hand and got a tight grip on my wrist. He twisted my arm counterclockwise locking it at a downward angle. He was actually stronger than me so despite fighting his hold I couldn't pull my arm free. So I did the opposite. I rushed Tyler. Letting go of the stick I was able to shoulder check him and getting closer made him reflexively pull his arm back giving me a chance to break the grab. I backed up not sure what Tyler would go for. At least being farther meant I had more time to see it coming.

"Jaklo, what are you supposed to gain from this?" Tyler's voice was calm as he asked, but he still looked agitated.

"Time," I told him plainly.

"Think I'll retire before you surrender?" Tyler joked sounding more annoyed that humorous.

"Gro!" A shout came from the other end of the clearing.

"No, but I do think you'll surrender before I retire." I grinned.

A chorus of cheers and shouts followed. Yanso came sprinting into the grove with a large group of Pokemon in tow. The ranger Pokemon filtered into the grove surrounding Tyler and I.

"Yanso and me may not be able to fight Atlas, but what do you think about an entire battalion of Ranger trained Pokemon?" I asked him.

"I think you're damn lucky I didn't actually want to hurt you." Tyler sighed, "Though I suppose your method is as fair as using any other condition around a fight. While I certainly think Atlas would still give all of you a serious beating I don't think it's worth finding out the finer details."

"I'd hate to see if you were actually trying," I muttered leaning over against a tree to stop from falling over.

I think the only thing that didn't hurt was my tongue. Yanso didn't look much better either. Tyler hadn't even broken a sweat. Despite having just been half way to wiping the floor with my ass he looked like he could have just come out of the office. He was about to say something, most likely wise and inspiring, but I cut him off.

"If it's all the same to you I think we should stop by the med bay. At the very least Yanso needs treatment and I need some painkillers. Then we can learn the lesson of the day." I said punctuated by a short groan in pain.

Back at HQ, I let the medics take Yanso to one of the healing machines while I headed down to the armory with Tyler. I sat on a bench holding an ice pack to the side that Tyler had jabbed with the stick. Meanwhile, he went into the restricted section and returned with a second key.

"Seriously? You're upgrading my clearance?" I asked shocked by the sudden gift.

"Well, honestly Maria was the one who had the idea. She convinced me to have two more 'DOOM' suits made after the dragon incident. Still didn't mean I was just handing out new equipment. If you can't problem solve outside of a suit you're just stalling the inevitable in one."

"I suppose that's fair. Don't want people taking risks they can't get out of." I agreed with his logic.

"Though there's a second thing in there for you as well. There's a ranger's styler just for you. Now that one I can take full credit for." Tyler said with a big ol grin on his face.

I was completely shocked. A capture styler was something very few Ranger's got to use. It only worked if the trainer was completely able to convey their thoughts in earnest. Most wild Pokemon were willing to aid someone who could prove themself, even if they weren't willing to be a permanent partner. If Tyler thought I was ready that meant a lot. It wasn't just a rank thing. There were Rangers above Tyler who might not even be able to use a styler to its full potential.

"I… mean thanks, but really? A styler for me?" I asked.

"It seemed like the right tool for your methods. I think you're plan today really proves that." Tyler explained simply

I decided it might be best to see if I really could use the device. Tyler went and grabbed it for me from the equipment locker. It was a strange little device, not as grand as I had envisioned. It was basically a wrist-mounted launcher of some sort. It had a small top like device which fit into the launcher and a single button to fire and a safety. The inside had a pad that seemed to be some sort of sensor. I strapped it on and test fired it. The top launched out leaving a trail of light and hovered in the air about ten feet ahead of me.

"So uh… now what?" I looked to Tyler for advice.

"Well, you control it with the sensors around the inside. Try flexing and moving your wrist and hand. Slowly." Tyler quickly added the last part.

I carefully began to move my arm that had the launcher on it and the top began to slowly move around in the air.

"That's crazy." I laughed genuinely amazed

"Just wait until you have a Pokemon around. In fact…" Tyler grabbed a pokeball from his belt, "Here try it with Ren."

Tyler sent out a gruff looking Mightyena who appeared curled up on the floor. It raised its head and sleepily look at us through one half-open eye. It got up and stood at attention staring intently ahead.

"Good boy. It'll just be a moment." Tyler told his Pokemon then turned to me, "Concentrate and make the top spin around Ren."

I focused and began to make circles with my hand which made the top orbit Ren.

"Good. Now really focus. A styler can be controlled completely mentally if you really work for it." Tyler continued to explain

I tried to focus, but there was a strange feeling come back to me. It was like trying to push the same polarity magnets together. It felt entirely out of this world.

"What's this weird feedback I'm getting?" I asked grunting as I tried to counteract it.

"That is Ren's aura. That's his very will. That top is a node that lets you communicate your aura and will to him, but that is a two-way street so he gets to send his aura right back. Go ahead tell him something just using the styler."

I closed my eyes and thought. I tried to narrow my thoughts down to one thing. Sit down. Sit. When I opened my eyes Ren was sitting. It could have been a fluke, so I tried again. Lay down. Lay.

Opening my eyes I saw him lying on the ground still looking at me.

"I can't even explain how mind-blowing that is," I told Tyler.

"Just wait. With practice, you can hear them back in some pretty high detail. I've never heard words, but willing Pokemon, or ones you can persuade, will share their emotions and their thoughts. You can stop fights before they happen, warn wild Pokemon of incoming danger, or just help deepen your bond with your own Pokemon using that styler."

"Probably a lot harder with wild Pokemon," I noted thinking about how many wild Pokemon reacted to humans.

"Well it certainly gets hard, but you just need to be true to your intent." Tyler said with a sort of melancholy tone sneaking into his voice, "You'll find the limit isn't in the styler. It's in you. You have to get out of your own way."

I nodded quietly because, to be frank, I had no clue what he meant by that. If it was just a sheer willpower thing I'm pretty sure the desire to not be torn to ribbons would be motivating enough. Tyler sighed looking down at his watch.

"Seems like I don't have much time left." He quietly conceded, "So much work to do these days. Paul's working a shift as quartermaster after lunch. If you want you can see him about the suits and how they work. Otherwise, rest up, tomorrow is a big dam day."

I groaned at Tyler's pun.

"That was uncalled for." I said before excusing myself, "I'll see you after the mission."

It wouldn't be worth going all the way home for lunch, so I just headed over to the mess hall and got a bowl full of goulash. I sat quietly in the corner letting myself mentally check out. Out of nowhere a big black sheet of metal slammed down on the table.

"Fuuuu!" I shouted and reflexively spun my fork in my hand to stab with it.

"Watch the cutlery dude!" Isaac shouted jumping back.

"You! You know I'm jumpy. Don't fucking do that!" I yelled at him trying to contain my desire to strangle him.

I dropped the fork in my bowl and took a deep breath.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to drop it so hard." Isaac sighed scratching the back of his neck, "Just wanted to show you my prototype."

Upon further inspection, the centimeter sheet had 8 padded sections made of some sort of hide bolted onto the shield. It was like a wall of studded leather. I brushed my fingers over the material which felt like sandpaper. I lifted up the plate and found it shockingly light. On the underside was a bracer like apparatus that attached to the direct center of the plate.

"I thought your folding shield was gonna be round?" I asked vaguely recalling our conversation from a few days ago.

"Well, prototype one didn't really work out well. This one's much better."

"What's the material you added on top? Nothing like anything I've seen before."

"It's actually synthetic. I got it yesterday from the caravan. New stuff they were trying out and wanted tested. They were trying to make some polymers to replace tires, but this stuff has a lot of really small holes in it that let air through it. So I put it over some foam padding and bolted it onto the shield. Extra layer of defense for basically no weight." Isaac explained pushing down on the pads to show how they compressed.

"Ok, so does it actually fold?" I asked curious to see if he had worked out the hard part.

"Yeah, not as small as I wish, but I think it's usable," Isaac said picking it up and strapping on the bracer.

He pushed the shield forward, then pulled it sideways so it one column of panels was aligned with the bracer, and folded the shield in half horizontally. From there he folded each panel inward so that they wrapped around his arm like a diamond-shaped tube.

"Impressive," I said nodding genuinely impressed.

"Now I just need someone to field test it. You're the one going on the dam mission right?" Isaac said pulling off the shield bracer and handing it to me.

"I mean… I am, uhm I'm not sure a shield is really something I was planning to bring.

"Please Jaklo, you don't even need to use it if you don't need it just see what it's like to have it out on a mission," Isaac begged.

"Fine, but when we get that hoverbike working we're using my name for it."

"Aw man, that's not fair. I spent forever working on the name." Isaac threw up his hands in frustration

"And 'The Wight', is still a better name than 'The Jetsky." I rolled my eyes just saying that name.

"You just want it named after you." Isaac groaned

"No I want it named after the ghost that my family is named after," I explained calmly, but still frustrated

"Here's the deal, we find a different ghost name and we'll use that, but not Wight." Isaac took a deep breath and compromised

"Alright then. I should be going though. Gotta meet with Paul about some armor." I told Isaac with a big grin.

"Dam's gonna be a big deal, but just you wait the real fun starts after they send us engineers to make it work again." Isaac laughed, "Who knows maybe we'll have enough parts for the bike after."

I headed to the armory and found Paul sitting behind the quartermaster's counter. He had a tablet in one hand while he was eating a roll stuffed with goulash from the other. I knocked on the counter to get his attention.

"Hey Paul, so Tyler get you the news?" I asked.

"Just reading it now. Wight, Jaklo is now cleared for: explosives, Emergency Response Armor, capture styler, and may receive vehicular training." Paul read from his tablet then took one more big bite of his Frankenstein sandwich.

"He hadn't mentioned explosives and vehicles." I huffed shocked by the addition.

"Well probably didn't think they were relevant. Not enough time for the training before tomorrow and well explosives are touchy." Paul couldn't help but look towards his metal arm as he spoke.

"Good to have in mind though." I said, "So can you show me the armor now?"

"Can't see why not." Paul replied getting up and unlocking the restricted section and showing me a case that was standing up against the wall, "This will be yours."

Paul undid the bolts holding the lid on using just his prosthetic hand and then set the lid aside. Inside the case was a suit secured in foam padding. This was the serious stuff. I had seen this armor used once in my life, when Tyler, Paul, and Maria arrived to fight the dragon. While ranger's had a little bit of light armor to wear with the uniform these suits had plates of metal and advanced ceramics attached to a nanofiber jumpsuit. More or less it was lighter more moveable plate mail for the modern era. The helmet had a large visor, to make sure a majority of the face was visible, and a built-in gas mask.

"We were able to get two more sent in from central. This one was made for you." Paul said pulling the helmet free of the foam and handing it to me.

I replaced my cap with the helmet which fit perfectly. From the inside, I also realized the visor was made of two layers. One on the exterior flush with the helmet and another very close to my eyes. Paul pressed some buttons on the side of the helmet and the visor gained a heads-up display. It had basic environmental information and list of radio channels scrolled past my eyes.

"I can update all the information in this before you head out tomorrow, so it'll be all set, but the buttons on the right control the HUD. All the usual altered vision settings are built in." Paul went on to explain.

"Can I wear the rest of it now? Never worn anything like this."

"Go right on ahead. When you take it into the field you'll need a cool suit though. This thing will bake you if you're in it too long. I'm not exaggerating. Too long in one of these without cooling and pushing yourself you'll give yourself heatstroke and drop. This thing is not just for Sunday strolls." Paul warned as he helped me free the suit from the locker.

I pulled the suit out and began putting it on. It wasn't that heavy, but certainly spread out a few extra pounds across my body. I stretched trying to find the limits of the armor, but it didn't really have any major restrictions.

"Damn, wonder if this is how Tex feels? What kind of hits can this take?" I chuckled punching my fist into my palm.

"Hardest hit I've taken in one was probably from that dragon." Paul said scratching his stubbly beard as he recalled, "Tail hit me square in the chest and laid me out. Still got right back up."

"Honestly, I wasn't really paying attention when you guys engaged. Guess this means it's my turn to be ready to fight things like that." I took a deep breath after I spoke and looked up to Paul for his thoughts.

"You're ready. If you can outsmart Tyler you can outsmart the strongest feral. You can worry about being strong as you go." Paul encouraged slapping me on the back with his metal arm making me stagger forward.

"I know my team is strong. Tomorrow I find out how strong I am." I nodded bawling my armored fist, "Tomorrow it all comes out."


	8. Chap 8: Damnation

"Pokemon are creatures of immense rage. Pokemon are creatures of wild beauty. Pokemon are intelligent partners to humanity. Three states that are intertwined no matter how much we try and separate them. A master trainer knows how to bring out all three in perfect balance," -The Journey of Life by Jason Wolf.

Four AM I was up and out the door. Uniform on, bag packed, and a fire roaring in me that I hadn't felt in a long time. Everyone was stowed away in their pokeballs save for Yanso who was walking along with me. The sun wasn't even close to rising, but we went along the road under the moonlight. We headed for HQ which was shining like a beacon in the middle of town. It didn't matter the hour Rangers were always on duty.

When I reached the armory Kip was already there sitting on a bench with a cup of coffee.

"What took you so long?" Kip chuckled giving me a sidelong half away grin.

"Not all of us live at command. I don't know why you don't put in a request for a home," I rolled my eyes putting my bag down.

"Work is home. It's all mom and dad could leave me," Kip sighed but changed tone and topic quickly, "So you've gotten in the armory requests I assume?"

"Yeah, lockers four and five. You're five," I said pulling out a couple of keys and throwing one to him.

We went to the lockers and found them stocked with the equipment I had requested for the mission. Heavy packs already stocked with the bare necessities for long-term camping, steel balls for troublesome wild pokemon, firearms: a shotgun for myself and a scoped rifle for Kip, and by special request directional explosive charges for clearing rubble. With everything collected I headed over to the restricted section and donned my armor. I had put the coolsuit on under my clothes but left it turned off until after I had the armor on. When the coolant started pumping the temperature change was drastic. I shivered at first as my body was shocked by it, but adapted to it soon enough.

"Chilly?" Kip asked looking me over.

"Paul said it'll-ll even o-out over time," I shivered through my words, "You all set?"

"Yeah, gonna be a long hike."

"Eh, I'll take it. Harder to be nervous when you're up and moving," I sighed, "Let's grab rations and then we'll head out."

We headed out with a simple plan. We'd travel in the cooler morning and set up a camp at noon before heading into the dam. With what we'd been able to dig up about the place there was a small control building attached to the top of the dam that we could likely secure and then use to get down to the lower levels from. After that, we had conflicting reports about the interior with varying numbers of floors and no clue what each one was for. We knew one was supposed to be a turbine level that was set up for minimal energy production. Essentially acting as a backup power to the dam itself. Being that the place was maintained right up to the exodus and its nature as a large self-contained structure we were hopeful the interiors would be largely intact.

The sun barely poked up over the horizon as we left town. We had some lightly maintained dirt roads that headed out north towards Rushing. Tyler usually just ended up sending Atlas to stomp around and trample the earth into these cleared routes. He couldn't divert his time to missions as much, so his pokemon were on call for a lot of tasks. I had once commented on how sad it was, but Tyler considered it a great option. After years of dangerous combat work, he and his pokemon were often relieved to be helping in simpler ways. I wasn't sure he was completely telling the truth, but the work had to be done somehow and it's not like Atlas would have an issue handling himself.

Reaching the forest's edge we turned on lanterns and headed into the woods. I sent out Rath for guard duty while Kip sent out a Quilava. My houndour sized up the new pokemon, and let out a short low growl. The Quilava sat still and stoic as his master. Rath looked at Kip and nodded before walking out ahead of us. We fell in and started hiking again.

"Didn't know you had a Quilava," I mentioned as we were heading along.

"I caught him just before winter. Good timing, if you ask me, three months of cold to keep us focused on training," Kip replied keeping his eyes locked on the distance.

"I haven't caught a new pokemon in a good couple years. Nort was the last one. Good boy, but a bit timid. Trying to work on that. Hard to build his confidence though when mine's been shot," I huffed defeating myself once again.

"Well, if we're clearing out the dam it might be possible that a pokemon might rather go with us than try and find a new place to live. Free meal or free game," Kip suggested.

"If paperwork is the biggest worry I have when I get home, I'll take it," I let out a short laugh.

"Is there something bothering you?" Kip asked finally looking over at me.

I looked at him as if he didn't know but soon realized he probably didn't. We were work associates, so there was no reason he'd know about my troubles. With how much it had affected my life I almost forgot it wasn't the center of everyone else's life.

"Yeah, it's called a giant dragon that's been haunting me for a year," I scoffed, "You were lucky to not be out there for that thing. The way it tore through us…"

I shivered envisioning the battle again, but took a deep breath and tried to purge the thought.

"Well, we're all glad you guys were there," Kip said.

"Pfft, all we did was get our asses handed to us and call for help too late."

"Around the barracks that fight's already become its own myth."

"You mean when Tyler got there? Yeah, him and Atlas could make a legendary shudder."

"No, what you, GR. Slate and Gr. Maez did. Three gold rangers holding a dragon back from town. Maybe you did need help in the end, but if I can speak openly, you guys were badass. I think every ranger wishes they were that brave."

"It didn't feel badass. It was the terrifying time in my life."

"I think it was terrifying for everybody. But, because of you guys, we didn't stay scared. It's already a story we've been telling the new recruits. Maybe it has gotten embellished, but I don't think it changes the meaning. Ranger's don't run."

"It's easy to say it. Ever since then I've been fighting on two fronts. Trying to fight ferals and fighting myself to not quit. But I'm here. I'm here because people need me. Because I need to protect them. I've realized that much. I need to know I'm saving lives. I'm making a difference. After the dragon, all I could focus on was the harm that came with my failure. All the lives we saved that day were nothing because all I saw were Mike's wounds. I took this mission for myself, but I'm ending it for everyone else."

"Trust me, I get that."

"Yeah, but your parents died before you were old enough to do anything. Heck if you hadn't been sound asleep you'd probably have died too."

"Doesn't mean I don't feel guilty. But you can't just dwell on that. We don't fight for the past. We fight for the future."

"I'll stick to fighting for the present. I have enough people here I care about."

"Then you're already doing better than me," Kip grinned.

"I think that's the first time I've ever seen you grin, Gander" I raised an eyebrow to him.

"I don't really have many good excuses to do it."

"Well, we'll have to give you one by the end of this mission."

We kept hiking throughout the morning and arrived just after noon at the dam site. The forest was growing fairly well even though multiple buildings remained around the area. Being a federal site they were probably maintained right up to the end. That being said, they weren't in perfect condition just standing to varying degrees. Rath kept his ears high and nose low as we moved through the area. Going up to the edge of the gorge we could see the actual dam about a quarter of the way down. There was a worn winding path that leads down to it. Tracing it back up we found it tucked away behind the buildings.

Once we were on top of the dam its scale was far more apparent. It was the largest man-made thing I had ever seen in my life, in person at least. Looking down into the gorge from the top made me queasy. It was a sheer drop into a brown fetid swamp. I had lived around the gorge all my life, but further, up the river the gorge walls were covered in trees and bushes or at least had them lining the rim. Here I was exposed to the distance. I stepped back and refocused.

There was a small structure attached to the top of the dam that likely housed the entrance, but the door into the building was welded shut likely as part of the shutdown procedures. It was hard to say what would be inside.

"Ok, we'll get in and set up a camp. Everything lower is considered hostile territory. Even if this seal is still intact it's impossible to know if the others are," I explained.

I pulled out Pierce's pokeball and released my kabutops. He stretched for a moment and took in his surroundings before looking to me for orders. I told him to slice into the door drawing a horizontal line along the middle with my finger. Lining up one of his claws he focused his energy into it and slashed right through the metal. With two more cuts Pierce freed the lower half of the door giving up a three foot or so opening. Taking out my flashlight I knelt down and looked inside. The space had some glass walls dividing off another room and the elevator doors on the far side. The place had a layer of dust but was otherwise empty.

"I can clean it out. Kakle, Chortle, sweeping wind," Kip said throwing two pokeballs into the room.

Both burst open revealing two nuzleaf dark brown one with a yellow leaf, and a paler one with an orange leaf. The nuzleafs looked at each other and grinned deviously. They swung their heads around in circles until little cyclones formed around them. Sending them spinning around the room first and then out the door they blasted all the dust out of the room and off the dam.

"Damn, Can I borrow those two to clean the barn when we get home?" I chuckled before ducking into the room.

We dropped our bags, then put the lower half of the door back up for security.

"Pierce, put some air holes in the top corners and then towards the center," I said realizing just how stale the air was in here.

Pierce complied stabbing his claws into the door four times to make slits for air to pass through. The rest of us set about making a camp. We'd want to be traveling light while in the dam proper. With that settled, we broke for a quick lunch and rest.

"Nothing like good ol' rations," I grumbled taking a sealed tin can out of my bag.

I stabbed my pocket knife's can opener into the top and tore it open. The can was supposed to contain pork and beans, but when I had it open all I could smell were the preservatives. I understood the necessity, but it didn't smell like food it smelled like the hospital. Even then, like a good little soldier, I scrunched up my nose and started to shovel down the mixture. For the most part, it tasted as it should, but there was a metallic tang to the gravy that made it clear this wasn't fresh homemade. Thankfully the mush was easy to swallow and filled an empty belly fast.

With breaths caught and bellies full we set proceeded to the next part of the mission. We pried open the elevator doors to reveal a long drop into complete darkness. We had some pretty damn good flashlights, but the bottom was so far down that I just saw a vague brownish square at the bottom. There were at least three floors below us based on the doors.

"I'll go down first. If I give the all clear you follow me up." I decided

"Understood," Kip nodded.

"Semper Vigilus!" I said doing the ranger salute.

I tied off a rope and started to rappel down. It was a solid fifty feet down to the next door. I slowly walked down the wall each step making a quiet echo fall into the depths. The door was rusted and bent inward. I pushed myself off the wall and swung out over the pit. Coming back I slammed both of my feet into the door knocking it into the hall beyond it. The metal crashed onto the floor and echoed through the whole area.

"You ok?" Kip yelled down the shaft.

"Just clearing the way. I'll touch down in a second."

I swung into the hall and undid the rope. Back on solid ground, I tugged the rope to signal Kip who started to descend. Kip and Kakle made it down without issue and we started moving down the hall. We were in some sort of upper maintenance tunnel. It was extremely claustrophobic. I only had a few inches headway and could touch the walls with my elbows out. I pulled out my shotgun and flicked on the mounted flashlight. Anything in front of us was gonna be in a lot of pain. I sent out Pierce behind me. Because of his thin frame, he'd be able to easily go over me if I crouched.

It had been fairly warm outside, yet down here it was like winter. I didn't relish anyone who would have worked down in here. Darkness, cold, and very little room, a recipe for misery. The hallway eventually came to an end and a hatch on the floor.

"Pierce, open it," I ordered aiming my shotgun at the hatch.

My kabutops stepped to the side and punched right through it. He wrenched it off and a Joltik jumped out of the hole. I fired my shotgun off instantly. A spray of pellets showered on the pokemon. It whined and fell where it was.

"It's a really young one," I said kneeling down to examine the unconscious pokemon.

"Howya know?"

"Ranger passing through Letchworth some years back had some. He had a whole bunch of them. They start developing lines on the back as they age. Adults have two big Vs on their backs."

I pulled out a pokeball and tapped it to the young joltik. It disappeared inside and remained there.

"Being so young they're going only off the simplest instincts. We should be able to get them into pokeballs easily. I'd prefer we get them out in the best condition."

"I'll keep it in mind."

I looked down the hatch to see an access ladder covered in webs. I had everyone back up a bit and brought our Rath. Producing a gout of fire he burned away all the webs. The ladder glowed red heated by the flames, so Pierce cooled it back down with a water blast to make sure it was safe.

"We should keep this as a backup route in case. Anything down there knows we're on this side. We'll be better off continuing down the elevator shaft."

Kip led the way back and was the first to go down this time. This area was much larger. The elevator shaft opened on both sides into large hallways. Every ten to fifteen feet were pits that went down into darkness. We found many more webs strung up around the area. It even felt warmer and drier here. We slowed down placing our steps carefully. The wrong one would alert who knows how many pokemon.

Not every pokemon was hiding though. We got the drop on a few more Joltik who were skittering around the webbing. I caught two of them while Kip grabbed one. Pierce and Kakle managed to knock out a few more of them, but many more started to show up from the corners and nooks and crannies. I thought we were in for a fight, but they were fleeing heading further down the hallway, possibly towards the ladder we had cleaned.

Out of the darkness ahead I saw electricity sparking. It began to move along the webs that were all around us. Webs made entirely of electricity began to shoot out from the ones on the walls. Slowly the hallway behind us became entirely blocked off. A galvantula skittered forward from the darkness displaying its fangs. I loaded a new cartridge into my shotgun.

"You looking for an easy meal?Eat lead," I growled.

Fire and metal erupted from the barrel of my shotgun. It tore into the Galvantula's skin opening wounds all over. It hissed skittering down into one of the many holes. I shined the flashlight towards the pit, and joltiks began pouring out. I fired again stopping a few of the young, but there were too many for just my gun. Pierce slid past me and started spraying water down the hallway flushing the joltik back down their holes.

"Wait! water! bad!" I tried to warn him.

The electrified webs came in contact with the flood of water sending the current right up into Pierce. He began to shake violently before collapsing in the water. I returned him quickly and sent out Tex who stood indifferent to the electricity.

The Joltik were pouring out quickly again. Tex rushed at them throwing up rubble and trampling everything in front of him. Even as he tore through them more kept showing up. Tex was wading through them like a ship through a storm. There was no way we'd be able to capture and remove all the pokemon ourselves.

Tex was able to tear his way through most of the Joltik. They simply weren't strong enough to put up a real fight and fled as soon as they were hit. Any that got through were taken down by Kip, Kakle, or I. When they finally stopped Kakle walked up to the pit and looked in. The galvantula jumped out grabbing Kakle and smashed the nuzleaf into the ceiling before dropping him back to the floor.

"Tex take him out!" I ordered loading another shot for myself.

Tex ran up ramming into the Galvantula. He pinned it up against the wall. It cried out in pain and tried to get free. I raised my shotgun and moved in closer. Tex outweighed the other pokemon massively. There was no way he'd be moved.

"I'll make this as quick as I can," I said quietly bringing the shotgun up against the pokemon's head.

All eight of its eyes looked at me holding its breath, and I looked into them. It was a familiar look. I saw it very often in Rath. I lowered the shotgun and the galvantula started to breathe again. I raised my stylus and launched the little top. Slowly I made it spin in little circles before the Galvantula's eyes.

"Look you don't have to like me, but we have to get the Joltik out of here. I can do that with force, or you can help get them out safely."

The galvantula looked at me briefly before making a really loud hiss and sending electricity down all of the webs. All the capable Joltik began to follow the electricity heading up to the elevator shaft and the hatch we opened earlier.

"This will sting a little, but it'll feel better after," I said pulling out a potion as a sign of goodwill and using it on the few scratches and bruises we had caused.

Tex let the Galvantula go and came back to my side.

"We'll let you take care of the others so they can all get out," I told the galvantula.

It watched me warily before going back down into the pit. Obviously, this would be a good time to double cross us, but pokemon weren't stupid. Unnecessary injury and exertion were how you died in the wilderness. There were some fights you just gave up on.

Kip retrieved Kakle who had been dazed by the hit he had taken. Kakle came around and was ready to go again.

"Don't push yourself Kakle. This is no place for risks," Kip warned him.

"Nu Nuz," He brushed the comment off.

"Don't get tough on us. We don't know how far this will go."

We went back to the elevator shaft. The rope didn't reach all the way to the bottom. We used Kip's to go the rest of the way down. We came across the elevator finally. It was barely intact covered in rush and collapsing in on itself This far down it should've been protected from the outside elements. We wrenched open the hatch on its top and saw below us had fared even worse. There was dirt and muck everywhere. Dropping down into it made a nasty splat sound.

"There's gotta be a breach somewhere around here."

"But we didn't see anything from the outside…"

"I know. I'm thinking there might be ground or rock types burrowing inside. Since its much wider down here want to send out more pokemon and split up?"

"Your call sir."

"We'll separate. I'm gonna send Plasum with you to boost your numbers.."

"Understood."

Kip set out his entire team: Chortle, Raizer, and Eli an absol. I did as well with Yanso, Tex, Rath, and Lucas left. Kip took the left path while I headed right. I put Tex and Yanso in the lead while Rath and Lucas stayed behind me. We trudged along the only sound being the squidge of the mud.

Eventually, the dam hallway came to a T. Taking a good look at the walls it was clear the area had been burrowed through. The walls were torn and worn into a large rounded shape. I shined my flashlight both ways, but only saw more tunnel.

"This is gonna be hell to fix," I huffed, "Which way guys? It's gotta open up somewhere."

Rath sniffed the air before sniffing along the ground. Lucas also used his psychic senses to try and suss out if there was anything either way. Both pointed right. We headed down the tunnel. It was much more spacious than the hallways we had been through which I both liked and hated. It gave us more room to move, but it also gave me bad ideas of what might have made them.

I stuck close to the wall one hand gliding along its smoothed face. The tunnel was well worn. It was as if it had been ground down with a sander. What was stranger was that every few feet there was a slight divot. Just a three or four-inch rut carved into the wall. I'd never heard of it as a natural occurrence, but I couldn't give a cause. If that wasn't unnerving enough every once in awhile we'd hear a rumble and the ground would shake if only a little. I wanted to check in with Kip, but we were so deep down our radios wouldn't reach each other through the solid stone.

A good while later we started to see a light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel must have very gently sloped upwards. We stepped out into the light to see a massive stretch of swampland and some small ruins. We had come out well over four hundred yards from the dam. No wonder we hadn't seen the breach.

I took a deep breath of the fresh air before I turned us around to go and check the other way. We all headed back to the tunnel, but Lucas hopped in front of us spreading his wings. He stared down the tunnel his eyes glowing.

"Noc!" He shouted whipping his wings back.

We all scattered rushing the entrance. The rumbling had started again. It was much louder and moving towards us. Being a sound based predator Lucas must have heard it first. Within seconds a massive metal pokemon erupted from the hole. It launched from the tunnel before turning back and looking down on all of us. The monster was a metal snake easily twenty feet tall even while it sat coiled up. I recognized it from my time with Prof. Slate. It was a Steelix a fully evolved pokemon with nearly impenetrable metal armor. Combat could end in a bloodbath.

"You don't wanna do this. Just get out of here," I muttered launching my styler towards the Steelix.

Halfway there the top stopped mid-air before bouncing back towards me. A force blasted back at me like I had suddenly felt the pain of punching a brick wall. Rage, hardly an unfamiliar feeling but this intensity was new to me. I caught the top as it flew back to me, but I held it up trying to focus everything I could into it.

"Leave. It's ours now," I growled trying to match its determination.

"Ste Reeeeeeeeeee!" It roared making a sound like twisting metal in a rockslide.

Its rage seemed to only grow. It would not back down. The only thing I could imagine feeling like this was a feral. I locked the top away and whistled for my team to form up.

"I gave you a chance. Now I'll try to give you a quick end," I solemnly swore.


	9. Chap 9: Why

"To kill is immoral, and any who do that are lowered to the level of beasts. That which you fight for may redeem you, but it will never raise you higher. What you would die for that is the truest test of character," Tyler Apel upon taking the position of Ranger Head and insisting on a plan for peace with the nomads.

"Alright, Tex front line. Yanso, Rath with me. Lucas stay high," I shouted to my pokemon.

Yanso and Rath rushed to my side while Tex went charging forward. Lucas stayed overhead circling. The massive snake saw Tex incoming and launched its head forward. Tex kept sprinting just barely getting inside the strike. The Steelix's head stabbed into the ground making everything shake. Its shovel-like head was half buried in the mud leaving it immobile for the moment.

"Rath, melt it down. Tex, keep striking close. Lucas, Air support. Yanso, you're with me," I shouted my orders before we all split from formation.

Rath went running in unleashing a blast of fire from his mouth. The flames hit right on top of the Steelix's head making the metal heat up to a glowing red, but there were no signs of damage. In the distance, I could hear Tex slamming against the Steelix. The clash of metal echoed through the open air. Yanso and I were making our way around to the Steelix's flank when it tore its head free from the swampy mud sending dirt and rocks everywhere. It uncoiled its tail sending Tex flying away. I couldn't divide my attention to go help him now. Yanso and I were far enough that we had reached the monster's blind spot.

"Steelix and Onix have weak spots between the scales. You gotta get up higher on it and find some weak points by its neck. I'm gonna target the weak points down here."

"Gro!" He growled at me not approving of the plan.

"Don't worry. I'll be out of here in a minute," I pulled a few small directional mining explosives out of my bag, "Brought these in case of a cave in. Now go so I can get to work."

Yanso looked at me one last time with concern, but grinned then nodded and started to climb up the Steelix's boulder shaped scales. I started placing the explosives between the scales. At most I must have felt like an insect to this thing. Looking away from my work I saw Yanso making his way up the back of the Steelix. Its attention was being given to Rath's fireballs and Lucas who kept flying around its head probably using his psychic attacks. The Steelix swept its head low along the ground. I could hear Rath howl in pain. Yanso managed to hold onto one of the spikes on Steelix's body. I needed to hurry up. I lit the fuses on the explosives and ran as fast as I ever had. I found Rath on the way and returned him to his pokeball. I headed for a collection of boulders to use as cover, but as I got around to the other side I saw the empty rusted skull plate of another Steelix. Probably another victim of the feral one in the dam now. I was violently taken from my thoughts as the explosives went off in quick succession. BOOM. BOOOM. BOOOOOOOOM! I turned back to see the Steelix falling over not being able to support itself on its coiled body anymore. Yanso was still holding on as the Steelix crashed to the ground. I ran up shouting to Yanso,

"Yanso, hit and run."

Yanso raised an arm and the leaves gained a razor-sharp edge. He sprinted the rest of the distance to the base of the Steelix's skull.

"Goooooroooooo!" Yanso roared

He brought his blades down, but the Steelix twisted its entire body rolling around in the mud. Yanso grabbed on not so easily thrown. It writhed doing anything to throw Yanso. Nothing could remove Yanso though. He clung tightly to the back of Steelix's head. One hand at a time Yanso crawled forward until he was in the space between the two ridges on its head.

"Yanso, get back here!" I yelled for him, "We can regroup!"

I called for Lucas to get closer so Yanso could jump onto his back. Instead, Yanso remained clinging to the Steelix. When the steel serpent saw Lucas so close it knocked my Noctowl out of the air with a swing of its head. I was astounded that it was still fighting. I thought the explosives would do much more, but this thing was astoundingly resilient. There were marks around where the explosives had gone off, but hell if I knew if it had really done anything. The Steelix was fighting as hard as it could to throw Yanso off, but being a Grovyle he could hold onto almost any surface. He hung on tight just burying his head into his arm as he endured the Steelix's thrashing.

There wasn't time to go get help. I ran ahead of the Steelix loading my shotgun with dragon's breath rounds as I went. Fire and molten metal erupted from the muzzle of my shotgun as I unloaded all five of the rounds into the Steelix's face. It glared down at me with seething rage. My most powerful ammunition had only managed to grab the beast's attention.

"Come on, hit me!" I shouted.

The Steelix tried to rear up again to strike down at me, but it seized up in pain when it tried to put weight on its lower tail. It collapsed into the mud, but it was far from done. It looked over at me roaring again and again.

"I'm not scared of you. I'm taking you out, and then I'm clearing the rest of that damn… dam," I tried to sound tough, but I starting to get pretty winded, "Heck by the time I'm done with you Kip'll probably have the tunnel cleared."

The Steelix's eyes widened. For a second it looked scared. No more… concerned. I knit my brows confused over the sudden look. It snapped its head towards the cave entrance. The Steelix stopped wriggling around, roared, and rushed towards its tunnel. Yanso kept clinging to the Steelix not knowing where it was heading. Inside the tunnel, he'd be ground to bits.

"Yanso get out of there! It's going under!" I yelled straining my lungs so Yanso could hear me.

Yanso slowly raised his head and saw where they were headed. Quickly he jumped for safety, but at the speed, the Steelix was going faltered the landing and crashed into the ground. The Steelix vanished into the depths. I gathered up my other pokemon before I ran up to Yanso who was covered in mud, blood, and bruises. I pulled off my helmet to get a better look at him.

"Gro. Goro vy," He groaned trying to stand up.

"You're not going anywhere. You are in no condition to fight again. Besides, I think… I think there's more to this. We were losing. There's no reason it should have ran," I frowned stroking my chin.

"Grov go!" He Yanso demanded we get going forcing himself to stand.

He leaned forward putting his hands on his knees to hold himself up. Yanso was growling biting down hard as he started shifting his weight toward the right leg. I could see a bulge on the side of his left hip, so I knelt down to check it. Up close it was obvious that his femur has dislocated in the fall.

"Goddamn Yanso, Are you just trying to get yourself killed now? Think you're gonna fight a Steelix on one leg?" I groaned.

"Go gro- GROOOO!" He started telling me off and then howled in pain.

In the middle of his retort, I had grabbed his leg and popped it back into place. Yanso toppled over grabbing at his leg and hissing in pain.

"It's your own fault. Now, in your pokeball," I said grabbing it off my belt.

"Gro. Go grov go," Yanso refused, insisting he'd fight the Steelix again.

"And how are you gonna do that on a bum leg? Don't be stubborn," I scoffed.

"Grovyle gro," Yanso assured it would be different this time as he looked towards the tunnel.

"You had your chance Yanso. If you listened sooner maybe you'd have this one too," I shook my head as I spoke.

"Gorvyle gor gro," In spite of me and the pain he stood up again and started shuffling off towards the Steelix's lair

"Goddamnit Yanso. Did you land on your head? I said you're done."

"Ro," He refused.

I grabbed his shoulder pulling him back.

"What are you trying to prove? This isn't courage Yanso it's suicide. Rest up. I'll find Kip and we'll regroup."

"Gro gogor Grovyle," He shouted looking at me like I was the crazy one.

"I know there's still the Steelix down there. If you got listened I'd have you and Lucas to help me with that. Now get in your pokeball."

"Gro Grovyle," He refused to let me go alone supposedly because a partner wouldn't do that.

"If you didn't want me alone you should have listened to my orders. I mean it Yanso, get in your pokeball. So help me I'll put you in a steel ball instead."

"Gro," Yanso shrugged off what I said.

"Why are you being so stubborn? We're here to do a mission," I roared in frustration.

"Ro, gro Grovyle gro go grov," He shook his head claiming he was here to kill ferals.

I was taken aback for a moment and had to actually let the words sink in. It was like when my computer would blue screen everything just stopped working. That didn't make any sense. Yanso was my partner. He was a ranger pokemon. We weren't killers. We killed sure, but it was only in full necessity. He had said it so brazenly, as though the kill was the mission. Where had he gotten this from? Was it me? I know I had become a bit harsher since the dragon incident. I had seen what was really out there, and it scared me. It made me tense and quicker to jump to the worst possibility, but I didn't want to kill. I pulled a steel ball out of my bag and looked down at it. We only used them on dangerous pokemon for the greater good.

"I'm sorry," I whispered winding up and throwing the steel ball.

It bounced off Yanso drawing him inside. The steel ball rolled and shook furiously, but it managed to hold. Picking it up, I could feel Yanso's energy as he fought to break free.

"I don't know why you didn't listen before, but I just hope you listen now. I don't know why you think this is ok. I can handle losing a fight, or you making some decisions for yourself, but why did you decide to hurt me like this? You've been brash, taking on challenges far beyond you alone, and you refuse to let me be involved. I thought maybe it was because you were afraid for me, that you just wanted to keep me safe, but now I don't think you care at all."

The pokeball shook again. Yanso was fighting to get out. I was forced to throw it before it broke in my hands. Yanso appeared on his hands and knees gasping for breath.

"Ro… grov... vyle," He denied everything.

"Then why? Why would you risk everything for nothing?" I demanded an answer

"Grovyle. Gro gorogo," His eyes were furious as he called for vengeance, for me, for Mike, for the pain feral pokemon caused, "Gro Vyle, gro vy, go vy vy vy."

He swore it on his father, his mother, his brothers, his sisters. A family he had refused to ever talk about. A family he now claimed was taken from him. Yanso went on about how he found me and a new family, but after all these years the ferals were here again tearing it apart. Ever since the dragon he'd been taking his revenge.

"So that's what you've been sneaking off to do. Murder."

"Ro, Grovy," Justice he claimed.

"How can you even think like that? I don't know why a feral crossed paths with your family, but you can't just kill them for what they are. Feral pokemon have as much a right to live as any of us. They're desperate and twisted by their environment, but they're pokemon just like you. When they cross the lines and put everyone in danger then we step in. Never before that. What you want isn't peace it's slaughter," I shouted furiously.

"Gro! Grovyle!" He swore they would pay that he'd kill them all.

"Then how are you any different?"

He was silent. He looked at me ready to reply, but he couldn't sat a thing.

"Maybe it's my fault. We joined together just as the Roamers were being run out. I wished we could wipe them all out, but Tyler taught me better, and I didn't think I'd have to teach you that lesson. There is a time that we have to act, but we don't start those fights. The rangers are guardians, not crusaders. We may do what we must, but you've crossed a line. You want to be a killer. That's why you kept going out on your own. You wanted to go beyond what the Ranger's allow," I buried my face in my hands

"I know we were trying to take this thing out, but that hate blinds you. If you stepped back you'd have seen there was more to this. That Steelix chose to stop fighting. Tell me one feral that does that? But you can't see it. Because you don't want to. You don't want to be a ranger. You want to be an executioner. If I knew you'd come to act like this, I'd have never let you onto my team, because it's changed you. You cared more for your vendetta than for your friends, your family. You are not my partner anymore. I don't know who you are," I was crying at my final words.

Yanso stared wide-eyed into the mud. I started walking towards the tunnel again, while Yanso remained as he was. Had he always been like this? Was it just the dragon? Against the Fearow he trusted us. Was that just because we were absolutely going for the kill? Maybe he really did care, but if he thought I wanted revenge then he didn't care enough to know me. I put my helmet back on and headed for the dam.

I hiked down into the tunnel staring down into the darkness. Being alone I just switched the helmet to night vision instead of turning on my flashlight. I had to find Kip, and get us all to safety. We didn't stand a chance anymore. That Steelix tore through all of my pokemon. Maybe if we hadn't split up we could've overpowered it. But it's not like winning mattered anymore. I just lost my best friend. Nothing mattered anymore.

I don't think we'd ever been separated since the day we met. Not like this at least. I had trained and prepared and fought so hard, but this is where I ended up. Alone. I slowly trudged down the now seemingly endless tunnel. As I finally neared the "T" I could hear footsteps echoing down the cavern.

"Kip?" I whispered.

I pressed myself against the cave wall and waited still as the stone around me. Light steadily began to fill the tunnel as Kip came up from the tunnel that I hadn't gone down yet with Raizer and Eli in tow. I came out of hiding careful to not spook them.

"Jaklo," Kip said waving when he spotted me, "It looks like the tunnel has a loop here."

"Other way was an exit to the surface…" I muttered not ready to really speak.

"We found a baby Onix down our way. He did some serious damage, knocked out plasum and Chortle, but I managed to capture him," Kip went on, "How'd you do?"

I couldn't look him in the eye. I didn't want to admit what happened, but there was no way to undo it now. I took a staggered breath before trying to force out the words, but I was interrupted by a growing rumbling noise.

"Onix... Steelix. Run. Now!" I shouted finally connecting the dots.

We all started sprinting for the elevator shaft, but as the sounds grew louder and the tremors grew stronger it was clear we wouldn't make it. I turned around and ran back to the exit tunnel. Kip saw me started to follow, but I shouted back to him,

"Get clear. That's an order."

"Sir, there's no room to fight in here. It'll flatten you," Kip yelled back

"I know, but we don't have a choice now, " I pulled off all the pokeballs on my belt and threw them to him, "You get everyone to safety. Tell everybody back home I'm sorry."

I sprinted as fast as I could into the exit tunnel. The Steelix's head was just peering up from the lower tunnel as I rounded the corner I raised my shotgun and fired it sending gouts of fire into the air. It glared at me with unbridled hatred, but I understood.

"Come and get me. You want your baby? Come and get me!" I shouted before sprinting up the tunnel.

When It roared the whole tunnel shook. I looked back over my shoulder to see it launch towards me. I'm sure it was going full speed, but it felt like everything had slowed down. I may have failed, but I wasn't going to let anyone else gets hurt for my mistakes. I was finally ready to accept it. I shut my eyes and said goodbye.

"Grovyle! GROVYLE!" a roar came echoing from ahead me; Yanso was shouting for me.

No. What was he doing here? He was going to get himself killed. He should have given up on fighting the Steelix. But he wasn't shouting for the Steelix. He was coming for me. For everything, he'd done, as much as I was furious at him, for how hurt he'd left me I couldn't hate him. But there wasn't anything I could do now though. Yanso came into view running on all fours. His leaf blades glowing with energy. He passed by me and summoned up a barricade of brambles one after the other trying to slow down the Steelix. All of them were torn through as the Steelix barreled forward. Any second it would be on top of Yanso. I already thought I lost him, I wasn't going to ever let that happen again. I turned back, set one hand on his shoulder, and raised the other towards the Steelix.

"I can't abandon you," I whispered to my partner.

A black aura began to cover us until our forms melted away into the shadows of the cave. The Steelix kept going charging through where we once were and straight out of the cave. I saw and felt the Steelix pass right through me and head straight out the tunnel. I shuddered like a freezing wind had just blown over me, and the aura faded.

"Yanso?" I looked to him for an answer.

"Ro," He shook his head and then put his hand on my shoulder, "Gro."

"I still don't know what happened," I sighed, "and I don't know how we're beating that Steelix. It was just guarding its nest. That's why it ran when I mentioned Kip was down in there. And the Steelix remains I spotted outside probably the mate."

"Gro, grovy," Yanso insisted we'd do it together.

A brilliant light surrounded Yanso as his form began to grow. When the energy dissipated and he was revealed as a fully evolved Sceptile. He was at least seven feet tall now and had developed all the distinct traits of an adult: the ridged brows, the long leaf tail, the double leaf blades, and the row of seeds on his back.

"I'm sorry I left you," I sniffed holding back some tears.

"Scep, scepti ti le ti," He shook his head admitting that he'd lost sight of what it meant to be a ranger.

"Alright. Let's finish this. Partner," I smiled up at him.

He pulled a yellow seed off his back and handed it to me.

"Scep ti ti ti. Tile scep sce," Yanso gave the briefest explanation of what the seeds could do.

"Massive roots, really strong attack. Gotcha. You draw attention I'll plant some," I nodded.

We ran for the exit and saw the Steelix slithering back and forth trying to figure out where we had gone. I snuck off into the brush while Yanso ran out into the open. The Steelix spotted Yanso and started heading for him.

"Scep, tile!" Yanso demanded a rematch

"Steerreeeel!" the Steelix roared ready to go again.

Again the Steelix rushed forward trying to simply run down its prey. Instead of running, Yanso charged forward jumping towards the Steelix. His arm leaves lengthened into rows of glowing green blades. He slid them along the Steelix's side leaving a clean cut in its metal scales. The Steelix tried to strike him by rotating its many spikes, but Yanso deftly jumped along them like tree branches until he was back on the ground.

"Scep ti li!" Yanso taunted sliding his blades along each other to make a stinging hiss.

The Steelix took the bait slamming its head down. Yanso dodged back and started running around to draw the Steelix away. Now I started my job. Using the land that Steelix had overturned I began to plant the seeds. When I had all of my seeds buried I fired my shotgun to alert Yanso. He got the Steelix to start coming back towards where the seeds were planted. Yanso went into a full sprint getting far ahead of the Steelix then stopped dead in his tracks.

The Steelix kept going. It was like staring down a road train as an oddish. Yanso stabbed his hands into the mud and light began to pour into the seeds on his back. The ground shook before massive vines erupted from the ground entangling the Steelix. It tore through the first few but they kept growing blocking the way and wrapping around its body.

Yanso pulled his hands free and looked at the Steelix exhausted. It struggled against the vines, but it couldn't build up the force it needed to break free. Yanso slowly stepped forward his leaf blades sharpened and ready. The Steelix's head was mostly wrapped up in the vines, but one orange eye still peered through the thicket. Yanso appeared calm as he approached the Steelix's eye, though I saw his fists clenching the closer her got.

"Sce e tile," Yanso said anger still seething out in his voice as he threatened the Steelix essentially saying surrender or die.

The Steelix tried to roar in reply, but its mouth was being forced shut so the sound was muffled. Yanso attempted to punch it in the eye, but its metal scaled eyelid closed in time.

"Scep! Sce e tile," He cursed nursing his hand.

"Yanso," I let his name stand as its own order.

He stepped back taking a deep breath. I looked at the Steelix as its eye began to open again. I stared into it looking deep for even the tiniest hint of remorse of thought. There was hatred, a deep burning hatred there, but I couldn't know if it could see past that.

I stepped back and fired off the styler. Just trying to get the top close was difficult. I may as well have tried to trudge up a mudslide. I didn't want it to have to end this way. Especially after how it started. I shut everything else out as I tried to make the top spin. But I couldn't just think about the top. I rooted myself in something deeper. Mercy. We weren't here to kill. We were here to save. If this Steelix was more than feral it was doing the same thing. Then it went to sympathy. The pain of loss being something we both could understand. Yanso stepped next to me and rested his hand on the styler letting his own experience be known.

Staring into the Steelix's eye I saw it begin to change, its glare becoming a saddened remorse. I could feel it deeper inside me as the aura became different. It was still strong, but not forceful. It felt more like I was orbiting the power, pulled and pushed away in equal measure. There was a vague image coming to my mind. It was like a stone, but smooth and round surrounded by broken chunks of rock. I put away the styler and stepped back up to the Steelix. I wasn't sure how but I just sort of understood. All it had and all it cared about was its baby.

"We need this place, but I know somewhere you and your baby can go, and it'll be safe," I said pulling out a pokeball, "You don't have to protect them alone."

The Steelix looked down at my hand. It let out a low solemn groan, and closed its eye, the only exposed spot on its body. I pressed the pokeball against its eyelid and the Steelix gradually vanished inside.

I tried out the radio hoping Kip was topside by now.

"Kip? Do you read me?"

"Jaklo! Fucking hell! I thought you were dead!" Kip shouted his composure having gone entirely out the window.

"I thought I would be too, but turns out Yanso and I had… well I don't even know what I had, but we're here, and we have the Steelix," I said while basically shaking myself apart from the adrenaline rush.

"You're lucky I didn't get the long-range transmitter setup," Kip was laughing relieved by the news.

"Yeah trying to apologize to Alice for not actually dying. I'd probably just want to die instead," I huffed, "We'll be up as soon as we can. I think we'll take an external route."

"Yanso? Up for the climb?" I asked turning to my partner

"Scep sce," Yanso waved off the challenge as a piece of cake.

I hopped on Yanso's back and we headed for the base of the dam. With the special pads on his hands, Yanso was able to crawl up the side of the dam with as easily as walking. Once we reached the top I looked back over the side at the battlefield. The whole area was torn up with massive ruts dug into the ground. Taking care of this Steelix was going to be interesting back home. Which reminded me of my promise. I banged on the Steel door to get Kip's attention.

"Kip, you have that Onix in a pokeball right?" I asked into one of the air holes.

"Yes, right here," Kip replied.

"Can I see that?" I said.

The lower half of the steel door was pulled away and Raizer popped his head out with the pokeball in his mouth. I took the ball and patted Raizer on his head.

"I'm just gonna give these guys a bit of a checkup. You can just rest up." I told Kip as I walked off towards the upper ruins.

Back up by the dilapidated buildings, I released the Steelix first since she was familiar with me. She appeared before us coiled up to sleep. With a low growl and a long sigh, she opened one of her eyes to see what was going on.

"Sorry to interrupt your nap, but there's someone here you probably want to see." I grinned grabbing the Onix's pokeball.

Tossing it into the air the Onix was released next to its mother. The rock snake was big but next to its mother was tiny. At best the baby was ten feet head to tail. The Steelix roared with joy seeing her baby. She dug her nose under the infant Onix lifting it up and putting it in the center of her coil. The baby was crying out happily nuzzling again its mother. The Steelix took a moment to look back over to me. She was smiling, but there were tears at the edges of her eyes.

"Promise was a promise. Heck, it still is. You've got the full support of the NARU."

The Steelix tilted its head not quite understanding.

"Oh yea, orientation. Uhm uh, there's a lot to unpack with that. Yanso, do you wanna start and I'll go get us dinner?" I looked at my partner begging for him to take over.

"Sce ce," He waved me off and turned to the Steelix.

I ran back down the path to the dam and saw Kip leaning on the wall outside of the entrance. He had his rifle in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. When I got close he deftly folded it up and slid it into his pocket.

"Whatcha looking at?" I asked letting curiosity come before courtesy.

"Nothing. Not important." Kip replied pulling his gun up into a ready position.

"Paper ain't nothing. The only things we put to paper are treaties and laws. What's on it?"

Kip slid the paper out and unfolded it for me to see. It was a letter. The print was faded and the paper had crinkles and four distinct creases from where it had been folded many times. The letter went on praising two platinum rangers, Kevin and Josephine Gander, killed in action during the peak of the Roamer raids. At the very bottom, it was signed by Tyler

"Tyler gave me this when I received my badge. He had always kept things quiet about my parents and who they were. Didn't want me rushing off to follow in their footsteps just because of them. He wanted it to be my choice. Nights like this I'm glad I made it." Kip sighed putting the letter back away and looking up at the setting sun.

The sun's brilliant orange light was reaching out into a cold purple sky. It had been a hard day but a good one. My question was finally answered. I may not be the strongest, maybe I can be one day, but I won't give up. Not while people need me. I'll give everything for my friends, my family, my town. For the first time in far too long, I smiled looking to the future undaunted.

My growling stomach brought me back to the present. I ducked into the building and started going through my bag to get out rations. In the process of getting them out, I found Isaac's shield buried under my bedroll. I hadn't meant to not use it, but honestly, I'm not sure it'd had done much considering the pokemon we faced. Maybe sometime during the week we'd find some wild pokemon to battle.

I gathered all the food up and headed back up. The sooner we ate the sooner we slept, and all I wanted right now was one nice long rest.


	10. Chap 10: Night We Stand

"A ranger is always willing to die for his people. Shame I was always too busy to get around to that. I guess old age is a close second," -RH. Fred Casstil, 3rd RH of Letchworth on his deathbed

The roar of a siren instantly woke me. I scrambled in the dark to grab my radio. I switched to the emergency comms channel. Kip rushed to over to listen in as well.

"Code seven! I repeat code seven. All rangers to combat stations, all auxiliaries prep emergency protocols. This is not a drill. Forces approaching from the eastern forest. Heavily armed and extremely aggressive. We have reports of Molotovs and civilian casualties. Commanding officers are heading to the south gate. Lethal force has been authorized. This message will be repeated and be updated. Switch to combat channel to report in."

I switched the radio over and dropped it so I could listen while getting my gear on.

"This is SR. Hane, we have lost visual on the enemy. They're moving through the orchards. We are trying to get lights on them. We've lost contact with the east outpost. South thinks they have some visuals"

Gunfire erupted over the radio.

"Goddamn, they're definitely out there. We can hold the gates, but there are still civilians on the outer ring."

A new voice cut in,

"Hold your position! I'm coming overhead. Airdrop, three, two, one!" Paul called in orders over the radio

There was a cacophony of roars and pokemon calls followed up by a rushing wind and then more gunfire. Paul must have unleashed his whole squad. With all my armor on, I grabbed the radio.

"This is Gr. Wight, Kip and I are a good ways out, but I'm heading in as quickly as possible. I'm already armed and ready for combat. I'll report in when in closer. We have no way to get Kip there in usable time."

"Good to hear from your boys. Syan, sludge bomb! Galent, shadow claw! Get me spotlights! Cath, cover Bravo!" Paul snapped between shouting orders to his pokemon and the Rangers, "With luck, this will be over before you get here."

"Spotlights online! Medics and Militia have been mobilized. Tyler and Maria en route. Alice, Hal, and Hayley are moving to lead evacuation," PR. Maez reported in.

"Do we know who it is attacking?" Kip asked over his radio.

"We have no ID on the hostiles. I assume it's a band of roamers that decided twenty years was enough peace," Paul grumbled with an almost inhuman level of hatred, "Zane, start shipping heavy weaponry to the walls. We gave them peace, but they've asked for war!"

"I'm heading out now!" I reported in before strapping my radio back onto my belt.

I ran outside and released Lucas. He spread his wings letting me jump onto his back.

"Lucas, home, fast as you can," I said with a cold seriousness.

He launched himself into the air with a single strong push and soared into the midnight sky. Letchworth was miles off, but I could see spotlights and firelight. Even over the rushing wind, I could hear the gunfire as we approached.

"Lucas, take me into the woods. I'm gonna position to flank."

Lucas flew low and I jumped off his back into the canopy. He went back up and kept an eye out on the area. I dropped down swinging along the branches. Once I was on the ground, I grabbed Plasum's pokeball and sent him out. The inky blue pokemon was basically invisible in the darkness, but his vibrant purple eyes gave off an off-putting light. Even after working with him for years, the light felt cold and unnatural. It would set something off in the back of my head: a primal sense of fear that had no explanation. Plasum chortled happy to be outside of his ball, but I quickly silenced him with a dire look.

"Plasum, you go door to door make sure everyone is evacuated. You escort anyone who isn't inside the walls. Lucas, go do aerial recon and cover him," I ordered them before getting the others' pokeballs.

I sent out Tex, Rath, Pierce, and Yanso next. I beckoned my pokemon to get close so we could keep quieter.

"You four are with me. We have hostiles at the east and south gate heading around to the west. Lethal force is cleared. Reports say firearms, Molotovs, and some explosives. We can't do our jobs by getting hurt, so stealth is gonna be priority one."

Yanso snapped his wrists elongating his four leaf blades. He examined the blades and took a deep breath. There was a grim look on his face. Remorse perhaps?

"I know… I'm not keen on it either, but they came to us, they came to fight. If they live, they're still a risk. We do what we have to," I shuddered realizing the weight of the situation.

"Hourrrr," Rath growled reminding us that there was no time to dawdle.

"Right, Yanso and I will scout first. All of you are on standby, pokeballs are unlocked," I directed them before getting them back in their pokeballs

I radioed in my position, "I'm about thirty meters from the Hegerd granary. Currently, we're hidden in the forest."

"Jaklo, we have a large group at the south gate. We think there are still other hostiles hiding in the orchards."

"Understood. My pokemon and I are ready to engage."

"We have the spotlights on a search pattern for the orchard righ- grenade!"

An explosion went off in the distance. I could see the cloud of dust it made flying up into the spotlights.

"Paul?" I asked terrified by what the answer might be.

"I'm here. Atlas just blocked the explosive."

Tyler joined the conversation, "Jaklo, trust us to do our job. You have to focus on yours. Clear the orchard. Make sure they can't reach any more civilians."

"Yes, sir. Going to radio silence. Semper vigilis," I turned off my radio.

Now it was just me and my pokemon. Yanso took lead while I was on point. We were silent. Nothing but shadows in the midnight hour. Even this close to home we were alone. Yanso and I scaled the granary to get a better sight on the area. We could largely see the main firefight. There were large spotlights shining down on the open ground outside the gate. The hostiles were back further hidden in the orchard's trees. The occasional muzzle flash giving them away. The other gates were also on alert, but I couldn't see the land around them.

"These hostiles are either looking for a way in or more targets outside the walls," I guessed trying to think ahead of their plans.

Occasionally I saw a bit of light coming from the trees that were ahead. There were people out here, but I had no clue if they were hostiles or civilians trying to get away unnoticed. Yanso and I dropped down and started to stalk through the orchard. I was aiming for stealth over speed now. I'd be no help to any civilians if I got myself killed or caught. We did not need a hostage situation either. I was ducking from tree to tree careful to stay out of the searchlights. As much as they could give away the hostiles the light could also reveal me to them.

While I was in cover, my back against a big apricorn tree, I started to hear footsteps on my five. I barely moved my head around the tree to spot two men about ten feet away with rifles stalking through the orchard. I whirled around with my shotgun and fired four times. The blasts destroyed the silence around me, but both men dropped to the ground. Yanso was a blur as he dashed over to where they are. He stomped hard on their heads to make sure they were done then vanished into the canopy. At the same time, I was making a getaway. I sprinted towards the woods but tried to keep the lit area in sight. I clambered up a tree about seventy feet away and waited.

Someone was shouting. My guess was orders. Lights were moving in on the two we knocked out. Another two men ran up on them before hiding back away. I grabbed Tex's pokeball and pitched it. He erupted into the area and roared drawing their attention. Yanso dropped behind one of the men slamming his hands into the man's head making him drop instantly. The other opened fire on Tex, but the bullets simply glanced off his metal body. Tex charged towards the light. I heard a scream and saw a rifle and light go skidding away.

Yanso grabbed Tex's pokeball and returned him before joining me in the tree.

"Do you think there are more?" I asked really hoping this was done.

Yanso nodded.

I took a deep breath, "Ok, catch a breather."

Yanso reentered his pokeball. I tried to run along the tree branches to stay up higher, but with my armor on I was far too heavy and had to drop to the ground. While taking a moment to catch my breath Rath released himself from his pokeball and started sniffing around the area. He didn't pick up on anyone nearby, but something in the forest was concerning him. While I had pretty good vision even at night between the moon and the ambient light diffused from the spotlights the forest was too dark for me to make out anything. The layers of trees blocked out more and more light until I was staring into pitch black darkness. If Rath was concerned it'd be worth checking though. I returned Yanso for now as we headed into the darkness.

When we got further out I switched the visor to night vision since we were away enough from the spotlights that I wouldn't be blinded at random. At the very edge of the forest, there were two more men slowly feeling their way through the darkness. They'd move stumbling from tree to tree trying to keep moving forward without light. I motioned for Rath to go around with two fingers pointed and a flick of my wrist. While he rushed them from behind I'd stalk around ahead. I moved a little further up and dropped prone. My armor kept me from being entirely flat to the ground, but hopefully, these guys would instinctively shoot for hip height at least. I took aim and fired off a couple of shots at the men. One toppled to the side grabbing at his gut, but the other ran out of sight as quickly as he could.

With the gunfire for cover, Rath may as well have gone silent. It seemed as though he had just appeared behind them, Rath pounced on the one crippled one and smashed his head into the roamer's. The other roamer began to open fire from wherever he was hiding. He seemed to just be spraying bullets into the darkness. When the gunfire stopped for a moment I returned Rath giving away my position in the process. I rolled to the side getting behind a tree before the roamer could start firing again. I lied there holding my breath to remain as silent as possible. The bullets ceased, but I didn't move an inch. With luck, he'd think he got me.

"Max? Max!" The roamer shouted after a moment or two, "Damnit. Fuckin Ranger. That's it I'm dropping it now!"

A massive red flash of light lit up the night. I rolled over to see a shackled Exploud next to the roamer. The thing was about twice the height of a man and looked like someone had taken a hammer to its face. It had four jagged tusks sticking out of its lips and its forehead seemed to have a dent in it. At first, it just stood there. Each breath it took was ragged and slow. Then in an instant, It turned and bashed the roamer with the back of its arm throwing him into a nearby tree. It chased after the roamer and grabbed him by the arms. With one quick pull, it tore both of them off. The man screamed in pure agony but was silent just a moment later. My stomach tied in knots as I watched the scene. Even with the filter of the night vision, it was beyond nightmarish. The Exploud roared a terrible noise that sounded like a herd of gogoats getting strangled.

Without even firing the styler I could feel the rage pouring off this thing. I could also feel the pain. Likely the Roamers had tormented in for ages until it would lash out at everything in sight. I had made bad calls before, but this, this was different. I loaded the dragons breath rounds into my shotgun and swiped a hand over all my pokeballs releasing my full team.

"Rath, light it up. Everyone, lethal force," I ordered with a cold voice, "We end 'em fast. No need to draw this out.

Rath set a column of fire into the sky lighting up the whole area. With normal vision restored I got a good look at the Exploud. He was disfigured and scarred all over. It's right eye completely gone and the other was bruised all around. It lumbered towards us slowly, but each step shook the ground. Yanso stepped up in front of me with Pierce and Tex flanking the monster.

"It's got poor sight but hunts by sound," I warned my pokemon.

In a single subtle motion, the Exploud unhinged its jaw and dropped it to the ground revealing a mouth larger than I was tall. The sound that erupted from it was less noise and more force. I completely lost hearing in the moment. It felt like a crushing force on my ears even with my helmet on. Everyone did what they could to dampen the sound and suffered through the pain. Yanso resisting his reflex pulled his hands away and grabbed two seeds off his back. He chucked them into the Exploud's mouth where they exploded into masses of roots. For a moment the Exploud gagged and was silent, but when it realized what had happened it slammed its jaws shut splintering all the roots before spitting them out. It went to open its mouth again, but my team's front line rushed in.

Yanso kept throwing uppercuts to the jaw forcing it closed. Tex went a for a blunt force approach just ramming as hard as he could into the Exploud's leg. Meanwhile on the other flank Pierce channeled a constant blast of water at it. Even while getting hit from three sides it seemed to be unaffected. By this point, pain meant nothing to it.

Despite keeping its mouth shut it was able to release another sonic attack. The pipes on its back slowly began let out a piercing cacophony of noise that grew louder and then blasted outward like a bomb. We were all thrown back, trees were torn from the ground, and the fire column Rath had made was scattered to the night.

I rolled to a stop against a building and picked myself up. The world continued to spin around me even after, but the armor took the actual hits for me. I switched back to thermal and saw the Exploud lumbering towards the village. He couldn't see me in the darkness, but he saw the lights. He was clumsy in his gait, but he wasn't slow. He staggered along crashing into trees but continuing forward. I looked for my shotgun and found it bent around a tree. My team had to be somewhere around lost in the darkness. The only way I could call them now would put me back in the Exploud's sights. There was no time to go find them. There might not even be time for them to get here. Slowly I got up swallowing the blood in my mouth and took a deep breath. I could get them time, it seemed like I had a knack for being bait. Digging into my bag, I pulled out Isaac's shield and slid it onto my arm. Then like the insane person I was, I ran up behind the Exploud.

I lifted the visor on my helmet and whistled as loud as I could. A single piercing sound to cut through the night. I dropped my visor and saw the Exploud turning to face me. I pulled at the inner panel of Isaac's shield and it jolted into place. The four segments folded out and I realigned them so the shield was centered on my forearm. Full-sized it covered from my head to my knees. I trusted Isaac, but I doubt it was meant to handle something like this.

I watched the Exploud slowly lower its jaw to reveal its gaping mouth. The Exploud began to growl. The sound steadily built up to a roar and then it erupted outward in a sonic explosion. There was so much energy behind it I could see the air rippling as it was pushed by the sound. Everything felt slow as the wave came towards me. I dropped to a knee, stabbed the shield into the dirt and braced it with my other arm. The blast slammed into me, but it broke on the shield. The force was being diverted around me. Even then what hit hammered against me. I felt myself being pushed back digging a rut in the dirt. When it passed I saw the shield had bent curving the edges inward. With uneasy feet, I stood up and stared down the monster who looked on confused.

"You're all talk," I grinned despite my whole body wanting to shake itself apart.

"Rawn Rawn!" A metallic roar came from the darkness behind me.

Tex came barreling out of the darkness tearing up the ground as he charged the Exploud. Just before impact he reared up and dug his claws into the Explouds upper lip. Dropping his body weight he pulled the feral pokemon to the ground. With its face in easy reach, Tex jabbed one of his lower canines into the Exploud's one good eye. Tex's jaw snapped shut like a bear trap crushing the Explouds skull plate. Tex ripped himself free pulling skin and flesh away from bone. Even with all the trauma the Exploud pushed itself up and began to roar sending wave after wave of force out in all directions, but these were all distinctly weaker. From where I was standing it was like a strong wind rather than the explosive force from before. Tex just dug in his feet and let the blasts wash over him. When the Exploud had to stop and catch its breath I made my call.

"Tex, finish him, Stone edge!"

Tex roared rising up on his hind legs. An aura built up around his body, a rough brown cloud that seemed to shake and pulse in harsh rigid patterns.

"Ron ron!" Tex roared slamming his front feet down.

The aura dispersed into the ground and rushed out in all directions making cracks appear in the ground. One massive fissure was heading straight for the Exploud. Its ears perked up at the sound. It opened its mouth to roar at whatever was approaching, but as soon as its jaw dropped a stone spike erupted from the ground piercing through the back of its mouth and out its back. The monster lied limp gradually sliding lower on the spike.

"Finally…" I gasped feeling the adrenaline start to wear off.

Yanso came running up with Pierce and Rath in tow. They were all a bit battered, but standing, so that was good enough for now.

"Scep ti?" Yanso put a hand on my shoulder to steady me.

"Yanso, we need to get inside the wall. I… I just…" I muttered trying to keep my thoughts straight.

Yanso nodded running ahead to make sure everything was still clear. I returned all my other pokemon and dashed for the wall. On the way, I called back in on the radio.

"This is Jaklo Wight. Open the west gate. I need to get in."

"Where are you?" The operator replied.

"Just outside. Open it now I'll sprint in."

"Ok. Gate will open in five."

Five. Four. Three. Two. One. The gates lurched open just a foot, barely enough space for a man to squeeze through. I sprinted like a madman and scrambled between the gates. Right after I passed through they lurched shut. I fell to my knees and started to gasp for breath. A bronze ranger girl ran down from the wall to my side. Yanso scaled the wall and walked up to me.

"You okay sir?" She asked.

"I'll be fine. I need to report in to Tyler," I told her breathing ragged

"Tyler, Paul, and the squad they put together engaged the forces at the south gate," She quickly warned me

"Then who's on rear command?" I asked finally getting my breath back

"Plr. Maez stepped in," She said

"Ok. I'll head there then. Keep an eye out for my Noctowl and Haunter. Lucas and Plasum. They were looking for civilians out there," I told her while starting to run off

"I'll make sure the rangers know," She nodded and ran to the wall guards to spread the information

I ran towards the south gate. It took a solid ten minutes to get there at full sprint. When I arrived it was all silent. The medics had set up in one of the nearby houses. The less injured people were sitting around outside being tended by rangers and civilians who knew what they were doing. There didn't seem to be anyone around I was too familiar with injured or otherwise. I asked one of the silvers what the current situation was. Apparently, Tyler, Paul, Maria and a few silvers were out doing a final sweep. With that team out there my worries greatly decreased. Just a few minutes later the gates opened wide and the rangers were coming back inside.

"Medics here!" I could hear Paul shouting.

He was sprinting through the crowd of rangers. He had something in his arms. Somone. I ran up trying to figure out who it was. Paul was carrying ranger, both of them were covered in blood, but the man just lied limp over his shoulder. It wasn't until the medics arrived and Paul let the man down on a stretcher, that I realized it was Tyler. He had multiple bullet wounds in his chest. Why wasn't he in armor? Who shot him? How? HOW? I just couldn't understand. I turned to Paul looking for answers.

"Paul! What the hell happened?" I asked furious and afraid and lost.

Paul kept staring at the blood on his arms. Paul had seen war, seen the worst parts of it before, but this wasn't something I'd seen from him.

"Answer me, Paul!" I demanded, but I wasn't sure I really wanted to know.

"Tyler went out ahead. When we heard gunfire a minute later we converged on his location and found Tyler bleeding out."

"If he was on duty shouldn't he be wearing his doom suit?"

"He was when he split from our group. I don't know what happened. Tyler always tried to settle roamer disputes with peace, but I don't think he'd be stupid enough to take his armor off. He'd start with diplomacy, but he wasn't adverse to combat as needed," Paul sighed pulling off his helmet, the entire back of which was covered in blood.

"So we have no clue who did it?"

"No, Tyler was already in shock when we arrived. We did what we could out there…" Paul's always confident demeanor had faded leaving his face pale and tired.

"Is he gonna make it?" I asked despite knowing the odds.

"Tyler's the best of us, but he's only human," Paul solemnly admitted.

"Not to me he isn't," I mumbled thinking of everything Tyler had done for me and this town.


End file.
